Live
by TiltedNidalee
Summary: Haise Sasaki is betrayed by the CCG and left to die, however his severe injuries makes him remember who he truly was and the friends he left behind. Finding a reason to live, Kaneki now strives to see the faces of his friends he left back in Anteiku. What dangers will our favourite protagonist face and how will his new life unravel? (AU, Haise leaves the CCG at the age of 20)
1. Chapter 1: Pain

**Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my fanfic! This is the first story I'm writing and I hope you like it! I decided to make this story that literally carries on with your thoughts and reviews. I'll take into consideration your review and try my best to improve my work.**

 **Quick disclaimer (for those easily offended): I don't own this series, I'm just one of the many fans who really enjoy reading Tokyo ghoul. The story you're about to read now** ** _DOES NOT_** **happen in the real series, it's just a random story that i wrote using the characters and setting of Tokyo ghoul.**

 **So, now that that's out of the way, here's my fanfic! Hope you enjoy! :3**

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 **Chapter 1: Pain**

*huff huff* Haise's panting and wheezing grew fainter as more and more blood began to ooze from the huge gaping hole in his stomach. Haise's left leg had been crushed under a prodigious boulder after his strenuous victory against Aogiri's Tatara and Noro. The 2nd war between Aogiri and the CCG had been going on for 3 days now, leaving both the CCG and Aogiri with countless casualties.

Just like every other mission Haise had been sent on, his fellow investigators couldn't care less about his life. They look at him the way they would look at every other ghoul. In everyone else's eyes, he was just another monster. They had honestly forgotten how he even managed to become an investigator with a body like that. As a result of their disgust in Haise's existence, they always sent him on the toughest missions, with hopes of ending his life. Haise knew their intentions and always tried to make better relationships with his team mates but to no avail.

Today was no different. Haise was sent to engage combat against 2 of Aogiri's robust SS~ rated ghouls: Tatara and Noro. He was abandoned near a crumbling building in the 20th ward facing the notorious Tatara and Noro. Countless emotions flooded his understanding within seconds of engaging combat; fear; terror; dread; panic; dismay; sadness. Howbeit, those emotions slowly evolved into ones of anger, resentment, rage, fury, and annoyance.

The battle had lasted an excruciating 20 minutes, leaving Haise in the life threatening situation that he's in now. Every second that goes by loses Haise more and more blood. Eventually, he could pass out and probably die alone knowing that no one would bother calling back up for him.

He wasn't getting any help.

He never _got_ any help.

If he was going to make it out alive then he needed to do something, _now_!

Haise thought of lifting the heavy boulder even the slightest just to quickly pull his leg free, but quickly dismissed that idea because of the sheer size of the boulder.

He couldn't use his kagune to break the boulder because he was out of steam. He had exhausted all his energy fighting the two monsters on his own.

The salt and pepper haired teen realized his lack of options. He only really had two really. The first was sever his left leg to free himself while the other was to wait here to see if anyone passes by to ask for help.

While the second option did sound less...painful, its chance of success were very low. All of the civilians had been evacuated and even if someone did come, he wouldn't be able to see them in the dead of night.

The first option did involve a lot of risk since severing his leg could kill him because of the amount of blood he already lost from his stomach wound. He also couldn't regenerate anymore since he was completely out of fuel.

Haise needed to think fast. He was running out of blood and could fall unconscious any time only to die later in his sleep.

 _Fuck, c'mon man THINK! Am I really going to die here... alone? N-no, I don't wanna to die, I don't want to die here alone! I'm so fucking scared!_

Suddenly, an idea came to Haise's mind. "W-why didn't I…think of this...before?" he muttered under his breath between deep inhales and exhales.

The half-dead half-ghoul summoned all the remaining strength he had left as he took a deep breath in. He then began to forcefully pull his leg from the boulder, ripping his flesh and breaking his bones on the way.

"AArHGhHG!" Haise screamed at the top of his lungs in reaction to the boiling, excruciating pain. His leg felt like it was slowly melting in a bath of bubbling acid. His vision blurred to a blinding white as more of the unbearable screams of agony ripped through the dead silence in the 13th ward.

"Haaaah-Haah-Hah… w-why? It's not… fair…" crystal-like tears gracefully streamed down his cheek as he was completely swallowed by sorrow. Darkness surrounded him as tidal waves of pain surged through his leg, stinging him like a thousand bees.

Seconds felt like hours as the half-ghoul, now eaten away at woe, waited for the hammering paint to stop. "Ah, hah, hah f-fuck... IT'S SO FUCKING PAINFUL! How the fuck do the people in the movies make it seem so fucking easy?!"

After what seemed like hours, Haise's vision slowly returned and the heavily pulsing pain began to slightly ease. He looked down at his now forcibly yanked leg, and widened his eyes to the blood bath it created.

He was is _serious_ danger.

Even a tough ghoul could die from half of Haise's blood loss. Heavily panting, the half-ghoul's vision began to blur as he struggled to keep breathing.

It was at that moment that he remembered. Right at death's door, he remembered everything. Everything that happened to him before. Before he became Haise Sasaki. The similar pain he experienced in his life before, both physically and mentally that dragged him to hellish abyss he's so desperately tried to climb out of.

It came to him all at once, as if someone poured a bucket of bricks on his head. All the visions and memories hit him so hard, it rang in his head like someone kept hitting it with a hammer.

 _"What's 1000-7?"_

 _"Now it's time for the pinkie toe"_

 _"If you don't choose, I'll kill them both!"_

 _"It's a Chinese red-headed centipede!"_

 _"KANEEEKIIIII!"_

...

 _So this is what they mean when your life flashes before your eyes huh?_ Haise thought as he felt his consciousness hang by a thread.

 _"So which one of these cute chicks is your girlfriend?"_

 _"You bastard, you got the order wrong!"_

 _"Onii-chan, how do you read this?"_

 _"Kaneki-kun, your mask is ready!"_

 _"Welcome to Anteiku!"_

...

Haise was dragged back to reality as he remembered the sweet voices of his dear friends. The voices that gave him life. The voices that helped his escape solitude. How could he forget? How _dare_ he forget? His anger was boiling at the thought of his selfishness. But one thing overpowered his anger, and that was his desire to see their faces again. To hear their voices again. To be with them again.

Haise, no, Kaneki's eyes shot wide open, his left eye filled with the black and red fire of determination.

He was going to get out of this alive, for their sake.

He must see them again.

He _must_.

Kaneki looked to his right, seeing the corpses of the two he just barely defeated. _I need the strength, the meat..._ Kaneki thought as he felt his hunger boiling and clawing away at his already gaping stomach.

 _Fuck, they're too far away, i won't make it in time..._

As he felt his hope begin to extinguish, a thought came to his mind; _eat your leg._

Kaneki looked down to see a horrible sight. A jagged, ripped torn remains of a leg barely exposed from under a blood stained boulder. It looked like a pack of hyenas completely devoured a man alive, only leaving his leg as a reminder of his existence.

But he didn't care. Anything will do as long as it satisfies his thirst for flesh.

He opened his mouth as strings of saliva webbed from his teeth, ready to feed.

As he tore into his own severed left leg, he realized that he didn't taste half bad. _Probably 'cuz I'm half human_ he thought.

Ripping sounds of tearing flesh followed by chomps and swallows echoed around him, just showing how hungry he truly was.

Just seconds into his meal, he was blessed with the feeling of diminishing pain. The tissue and flesh of his leg began to weave into one another, recreating his lost limb. A wave of relief flooded Kaneki as he completely relished that moment. "Funny," Kaneki giggled, "to gain a leg you must eat a leg."

With the thigh of his 'old' leg completely devoured, and his 'new' leg completely formed, Kaneki expected his stomach wound to heal a considerable amount. But only a few centimeters in circumference were knocked off the wound's size. _Fuck, i need more meat!_ Kaneki thought as he eyed his bleeding wound.

 _What do I do? What do I do? CRAP!_

The half-fed half-ghoul barely got to eat any meat because the boulder prevented him from eating the meat under it.

As Kaneki anticipated any possible scenarios to get himself out of the pain and heal his gaping wound, his whole body began to ache.

He needed rest.

 _No, not now! I can't fall asleep out here in the open. I need to get rid of this fucking annoying hole!_

A thought popped in Kaneki's mind and without a second thought, he summoned all the strength he could muster and pulled himself to his feet, finding himself immediately stumbling to the boulder and resting his left hand against it for support.

More blood gushed out of his wound in response to his sudden movement. Kaneki slapped his right hand on his wound and pushed hard in a effort to stop the bleeding. It did help, but it also brought another wave of pain crashing against him.

He couldn't take it anymore. He going to faint.

 _No, not now, please... I've been through worse..._

A light headed Kaneki slowly began to make his way to the two delicious smelling corpses just meters away.

Kaneki began to drool, _Holy fuck they smell nice, just like those juicy tender hamburgers freshly made by mum. GIVE THEM TO MEEE!_

At this point, Kaneki had drooled all over his ripped, blood-stained trench coat with an insane grin on his face. His eyes practically popped out of their sockets as he stared at the feast that awaited him.

 _I'm going to eat every last shred of mea-_

Kaneki's manic thoughts were cut short after he stumbled and almost fell forward. After being dragged form his crazed thoughts and being hulled back to reality, Kaneki realized he was in no shape to walk even another meter in his condition. His body simply couldn't keep up with his racing thoughts of devouring every trace of their existence.

 _Come on man! I survived that jackass cutting my fingers and toes. I even stayed awake throughout the whole ordeal so this should be a piece of cake, yet why am I..._

For the 3rd time, his brain somehow thought of a lifesaving idea.

Kaneki began another attempt at walking towards his scrumptious looking meal while saying something he thought he never would.

 _993_

 _*huff, huff*_

 _986_

 _*huff, huff*_

 _979_

Just like in those fateful, treacherous 10 days in the unforgettable checkered room, the only stable structure keeping Kaneki awake and sane were the endless, echoing digits split by intervals of seven.

 _972_

"haaah, haah"

 _9-6-_

Before he could finish count, his body gave way, making him fall head first.

But, instead of getting dirt like Kaneki anticipated, something softer and sweeter greeted him. The sweet aroma that filled his nose confirmed his suspicion. Just to make sure, Kaneki opened his eyes and was welcomed with the heavenly sight of fresh meat served before him. The beautiful corpses of the two he just ripped the life from blessed him with their tenderness.

Oh, thank God...

Without a moment's hesitation, Kaneki dug into his well-deserved meal.

Kaneki never thought that ripping and shredding noises would sound so beautiful.

Chews and chomps were the last think he heard before sleep took over his body.

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 **Once again, thank you for reading! This has been the first chapter of my story and I plan to make more. Like I said, I would really appreciate it if you submit you reviews. I don't really have a regular time for uploading new chapters but it would definitely be within a weeks' time. Alright bye!**


	2. Chapter 2: Promise

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading another chapter and thanks to Vi-Violence for reviewing my work! It really helps and gives the extra encouragement. It also tells me that I'm doing something right for a change xD. Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

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 **Chapter 2: Promise**

"Excuse me…hey!" The voice of a young girl dragged Kaneki out of his beauty sleep as he shot open his eyes in surprise, ready to be attacked.  
"Are you alright?" A merlot-haired young girl asked with a tone of voice filled with a mixture of confusion, curiosity and concern.

She had a pair of homogeneous eyes that beautifully blended with her hair and outfit as she was wearing a red hoodie and brown jeans, which gave her a slight tomboy look.

Kaneki's eyes scanned the girl up and down looking for any sign of threat, but mainly to identify who woke him from his heavy slumber.

For some reason, Kaneki thought she looked awfully familiar. But every time he tried to remember why, his head would just ring painfully.

After 5 seconds of silence between the two, another voice could be heard echoing in the distance. "I told you not to talk to random people Gazel, especially not a shady looking guy like that!"

The voice had a more masculine modulation, but not too much. It carried a heavy amount of anger but also a hint of curiosity which Kaneki was barely able to distinguish.

While the girl turned her head to face the origin of the sound and probably give a reply, Kaneki took a quick scan of his surroundings. He noticed it was really dark until he soon realized he was outside. A few more seconds of analysis provided Kaneki the conclusion that he was in a park, lying quite comfortably in silken grass against a tree.

 _Wait… what? How did I get here? Last thing I remember was staggering with this big hole in me. And then there was the hunger. And then there was the… the… fuck… I can't remember anything after that. But I do know that I wasn't here before I passed out. So that means that someone brought me here-_

"Hey you're spacing out… are you sure you're alright?"

Once again, the sound of a young girl's voice hulled him back to reality but this time, with less of a shock.

"O-oh I-I umm, sorry about that. Yes, I'm fine." Kaneki's sheepish response was almost cut off when he realised the number of figures before him had increased. Now two people were towering above him, one was the girl who woke him up while the other he didn't recognise.

It was a boy with short, black, silky hair with a glistening pair of matching brown eyes. He was also wearing a hoodie and jeans but with a much darker tone of black for the hoodie and dark navy blue for the jeans. He seemed to be around the age of 17-18 but it was hard to tell because his dark contrast of cloths was restricting Kaneki from making a proper judgement.

The boy was staring at his dull grey eyes with a perfect poker face that rivalled Kaneki's. "See he's alright. We should go now, we're late."

The girl turned her head to head to the boy only to turn it back to Kaneki with a warm smile that battled against the bitter cold atmosphere. "Are you sure you're alright? It's fine if you're not, just say so. Akihiro and I can help."

Not knowing why, Kaneki was warmed at her attempt of assistance.

Trying his best to force a smile, he replied with "Thank you so much, but I assure you I'm fine." His last few words lost its smile because of the annoying sight at his peripheral vision. The whole time, the boy was just giving Kaneki a look of pure hatred for absolutely no reason. It was the look that you would give when you look at something disgraceful, something disgusting. Not that Kaneki didn't deserve that face though.

"See like I said, he's fine!" His teeth were gritted through the whole sentence and he practically spat the last two words out.

 _What the hell is his problem? What did I do to him? He's the complete opposite of her with all those moody faces. Man he pisses me off so much…_

Those thoughts left Kaneki with a plain face and eyes injecting their edginess directly at the annoying boy. They both held their tough poker faces but in the end of the 3 second battle, Kaneki won after his cold empty death stare made the boy flinch, replacing his losing poker face with once of suspicion and vigilance.

Satisfied with the victory of his pointless, childish battle, Kaneki took a glance at the worried looking girl in front of him. She still thought that something was wrong even after Kaneki's second attempt at his reassurance.

Kaneki did notice that she was staring at his body, not his face like someone would usually direct their eyes in a peaceful converse. It urged Kaneki to look down at where she was so nervously looking at.

As he glanced down, Kaneki saw a normal body clothed under not so normal clothes. His chest was half visible under his shirt and trench coat that were almost torn to shreds. It looked exactly like what you would find when a pack of hyenas get to work in a horror movie, literally.

 _So that's why she was worried huh?_

"Oh I umm… I-well, you see I uhh… it's umm…" Kaneki struggled to give the perfect excuse that fit the situation; reasonable and believable. The cogs in Kaneki's brain seemed to be jammed because even after 5 seconds of stuttering, his brain failed to produce anything to prevent his embarrassment.

That only brought more worry to the girl as her eyes grew big and shiny with the potential of forming tears.

So much so that Kaneki could see his reflection in her deep red eyes. A dell-grey eyed young man with dirt painted all over his face and his chest slightly exposed under a trench coat and shirt demolished by the works of what looks like a demon. A neutral expression with a barely identifiable hint of embarrassment and guilt topped with rustled, all messed up pure white snowy hair.

 _Oh, when did my hair turn completely white again? Probably when I was stuck under that boulder with a freaking drilled stomach huh? It's as if my hair has colour shifting properties or something. How weird…_

A warm touch slowly eased itself on Kaneki's ice cold forearm. It was like the sensation you get when you huddle up against a radiator in the winter. It made him realise just how cold he really was.

The unusual change in the girl's movement hinted Kaneki to examine her once more. It always was a natural habit of his, even the slightest change in attitude would encourage him to identify why and at unpredictable times like this, discover any signs of danger.

He managed to notice the change in her face that replaced her previous worried one with encouraging eyes and a confident smile, one you would use when you're trying to motivate a kid to take part in something they don't want to take part in.

She held that face while touching Kaneki for a good solid 3 seconds as if trying to comfort him.

It honestly just made Kaneki confused as to why she would take so much energy to help someone who looks like he took part in a death match.

She finally spoke, instantly grabbing Kaneki's attention purely because of his curiosity. "You don't have to hide it. It's fine, come with us and we'll help you."

Without giving Kaneki a chance to reply, she hauled him from the ground onto his feet, causing her to stumble on the way due to his weight.

 _Oh fuck, what have I got myself into… I don't have time for this. I need to get back to the others, it's been a year since I last saw them. But now I'm getting treatment by this girl and her annoying as fuck boyfriend… how am I going to get away from them?... well fuck me!_

"Let's go to our house and we'll get you cleaned up." She shot Kaneki another smile before dragging him a few feet towards the park's exit gate.

"WHAT?!" Was the reply she got a particularly astonished black haired-boy, his brown eyes bulging out of their sockets and mouth wide open. Though the boy seemed to be hiding most of his surprise with a trembling half worried, half poker face.

"Do you have any idea what you just said Gazel? Take _him_ home? _HIM?_ " Kaneki noticed that the boy seemed to hold back his urge to give a disgusted face and replaced it with one that looked more distressed.

Turning to face the angry boy, she replied with "Well of course we are Akihiro! Look at the poor boy, he looks like he just survived the apocalypse! We should at least help him get cleaned up at our place. Honestly, look at your manners." Gazel's reply seemed to really hit him hard because his face immediately looked hurt as he looked down in shame.

She turned back to face the milky haired teen and smile for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Right, now that that's settled, lets head home… uhhh…"

He took that as her attempt to get his name and struggled, debating whether he should or shouldn't reveal his identity to them.

 _Can I trust them? Every human I've met since being trapped in this half-ass body had been nothing but rotten. Rotten to the core. I mean sure, they do seem genuinely kind but that could be a lie, just like my whole life. Well, if they wanted to harm me then they could have done it when I was sleeping. So I guess I can trust them… a bit._

The whole thought process only took Kaneki a fraction of a second before he came to his decision.

"Kaneki Ken. Call me Kaneki." He calmly and emotionlessly replied with a forged, barely visible smile. It was probably obvious that it was forged because Kaneki just frankly didn't want to be here _at all_. It all seemed a waste of time to him, the classic "oh, are you okay?" that all humans ask even if they don't know anything about the person. They don't even know their name, yet they risk their lives to help. He could be a pervert for all they know! A paedophile, a rapist… a _ghoul._ It's all so annoying to him, for a reason he couldn't understand.

"Alright Kaneki, let's go!" The excited voice of a young teen sing-songed its way into Kaneki's sensitive ears, when he began to be dragged once more like a mother would drag their naughty child to school.

 _Fuck… what have I gotten myself into…_

Kaneki had grown less fond of humans since he regained his memories. Well, it was to be expected. After all, humans turned their back on him and refused to show any care or compassion when he needed it most. He was abandoned my them, left to rot like a nobody, like a _monster_.

The only place he has left now is the cruel and ruthless ghoul world. The only happiness he finds in such a barbaric world is his friends. The friends that helped him survive and thrive in merciless bloodshed. The friends that helped him see reality for what it truly is. The friends that evolved him, made him stronger than ever before.

Oh, how he hungers to see them again, how he thirsts for their comfort in his God-forsaken life.

 _What is he doing?_

They think he's dead, buried and on his way to hell.

 _What is he doing?!_

They think they'll never see him again, live without him for the rest of their torturous lives.

 _WHAT IS HE DOING?!_

They could be in serious danger. The last time he saw them, they were running away from the savage investigators that were striving to kill every last ghoul, to eradicate their existence without leaving a trace of their being behind.

Meanwhile, he was letting himself get dragged by two petty kids, only to get cleaned and dressed in fancy clothes at their house.

How shameful.

What a disgrace.

What an asshole, literally.

He stopped dead in his tracks, which made the girl stumble back as she was holding his arm. Not feeling any guilt in his actions he pull his heated arm away from the younger girl's warm grasp. He looked at her with dead, cold and completely empty grey eyes. Eyes that look at the world with pain and solitude. Eyes without meaning, without emotion. Just round orbs as dull as a rock while carrying the belief that they have no place in this world, that their existence is pointless, nigh its destructive, sad end.

The girl in front of him and the boy behind him both fixed their rather confused eyes on him, searching for any answer to his questionable actions.

Akihiro seemed to be annoyed by the fact that all he could see was the snowy white hair growing from the back of Kaneki's head, obstructing his view of seeing the expression on the other male's face. It annoyed him so much so that he took the time to walk around him until he was standing beside Gazel, examining the mysterious boy's facial features to try to get a hint towards the sudden movement.

"I'm sorry." Was all Kaneki could mutter before turning around to head to the other direction.

He glanced over his shoulder to see one tilted head baring a confused expression and another saddened face which seemed to be struck by an intense amount of worry.

"I'm fine. I don't need any of your help. I just need to get back home." Thinking that was enough to dismiss their need for assistance, Kaneki began step forward in the dark air around him. The soft, chilly breeze playing with his rustled air, tickling his slightly exposed chest with its cold touch. He looked forward while stepping into the distance without a destination.

Once again, a persistent warm sensation touched his pale, chilly hand, taunting him to look back only to find the same worried face he had seen countless times in the past 10 minutes. This slightly annoyed Kaneki but be decided not to show it.

"W-why? I'm a total stranger and you don't even know me! Yet, yet you strive to help me like you would lose a part of yourself if you lose me." Kaneki couldn't hold back his astonishment at the girl's strong sense of duty.

"Because I don't want to make the same mistake again. The mistake that weighed down on my life so heavily, so painfully."

"Mistake?"

"Yeah… I once had a friend that meant so much to me. She was with me ever since I could speak, ever since I could remember. She was everything to me because I had no one else. I was abandoned in a plain old cardboard box, unwanted. She found me and took me in, caring for me and raising me with the care and love my parents had failed to provide. We were both without a mother and father, lost in the streets of Tokyo with no one to rely on. She was the one who gave me my beautiful name, she felt just like an older sister to me. We just barely survived off stealing food and the little money we got from begging. I always wondered what was beyond those towering buildings that surrounded our secluded life. It was a really tough life, one that many would fail to survive." Her voice was warm and soft, the cloud of smoke that left her mouth every time she spoke in the chilly night's air slightly warmed Kaneki's bitter cold face.

"We were growing up slowly but surely. Until that fateful day…" Her voice trailed off and shattered beneath the broken memories that flooded her mind with their painful presence.

Kaneki's mouth opened to try and stop her from hurting herself by remembering anything painful as he defiantly knew how it felt, but he was too late. She had already began to continue her story. "1 year ago, war in the 20th ward broke out between Aogiri Tree and the CCG. It was hectic, absolutely horrible. Bloodshed everywhere, not a single corner of peace to be found. All the civilians had been evacuated, but us. Everyone forgot about us, even the small relationships we had built collapsed under the horror that unfolded there. No one came to help us, we were completely irrelevant."

Kaneki's grey eyes were locked on her the whole time she was sharing her story. It all seemed so familiar, oh, _too familiar_. He was also abandoned by the ones he cared for most, not to mention, beaten by one particular one. He never knew the love of a caring mother, nor the love of a father. He only had one friend who saved him getting swallowed up into the chaotic abyss of sadness and despair. _Hide_. The thought of his dear friend flooded his mind with regret and a strong passion to see his smile again.

He could totally relate to her. Their lives share so many similar properties it's unbelievable. They both experienced emptiness and betrayal. They were both grabbed by the icy cold clutches of _solitude._

She took a deep breath before continuing, "We didn't know what to do. Everyone had abandoned us and we were stuck in the 20th ward, shivering from the freezing cold night but also from fear. We huddled together at the corner of an alleyway that was stained with blood. Minutes turned to hours and the sound of screaming and death never left our ears. It forever scared our hearts, our young, innocent hearts." She held her arms together from what seemed like fear before looking to the ground with sorrowful eyes.

It took hear 5 seconds to catch her courage to continue. "I had drifted off into a short slumber, accompanied by a nightmare. But I was soon woken up by a cold tap on my shoulder. I looked to my right and saw that she was pointing ahead in the distance. I turn my head forward again and saw that she was pointing at a cloud of smoke in the sky. It looked like a building was on fire but it didn't surprise me considering the magnitude of the other things going on around us. I immediately understood what she wanted to do. We both struggled to get up, but by helping one another, we somehow managed to fight the deathly cold air surrounding us. With weak, tired and flimsy bodies, we slowly made our way to the warmth of the burning building. It took a while, but it was worth the struggle as heat we were provided with brought us back to life. It hugged us with its beautiful warmth, coating us with the love we so desperately needed, the love we so desperately thirsted for."

By now, tears were rolling down her cheeks ever so gently. They shone and glistened in the moonlight, reflecting their beauty. She looked up at a half-saddened, half-normal face Kaneki offered the crying girl.

Realising she can't just stop when she already told half the story, she continued. "But our luck betrayed us when a tall figure stood before us. His shirt and trousers all torn to shreds with a deep red liquid oozing out of a slash wound laying across his whole torso. His body was trembling but what was most terrifying of all was his eyes. Oh, _his eyes_! The eyes that were bleeding with a blood red and were surrounded by an empty blackness. The eyes that came from hell. He stared at us for what seemed like forever before a smile grew on his lips. He immediately lunged at me, saliva flying out of his now open mouth. I didn't know what to think. I was totally and utterly confused, my brain wasn't functioning in the freezing atmosphere and it wasn't bothering to take in much information because of its sleep deprived state. But, that wasn't the case for my friend because she immediately sensed the incoming danger and tried to dive into me to get us both out of the way. She succeeded but failed at the same time where she wasn't fast enough. She pushed me out of the way but placed herself in where I was just seconds ago, resulting in her getting attacked instead. It took me a few seconds to grasp my bearings and lift my head from the freezing concrete. That's when I realised I shouldn't have. The sight before me was so blinding, so horrible, so _inhuman_. She was being ripped to shreds, eaten alive by this man, by this _monster_. I was frozen in place, not able to even draw even a single, shallow breath. The sight paralyzed me with fear. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. The screams and laughter seemed to echo in my mind, ringing painfully as the seconds went by."

At this point, her eyes were shaking and so was her body. "I felt so ashamed, I hated myself for just sitting there doing nothing, absolutely _NOTHING!_ But the impotent feeling didn't last long after another figure flashed past me with a white light. It crashed into the crazed monster of a man sending them both tumbling further into the alley way. The mysterious figure ended up on top of the man after what felt like ages of tumbling over one another. Everything was so elongated it was like life was toying with me. The figure had a strange black leather mask on. It had a creepy lipless grin on it with an eye patch over the right eye."

Kaneki's eyes immediately shot wide open when he heard that. His face filled to the brim with shock and realisation.

 _S-so that's why she looked so familiar! S-she was one of the girls I helped that night… I-I…_

Kaneki was speechless, but mostly shocked. He had saved this little girl's life, he had saved this human's life from experiencing something similar to what he had experienced. She looked at him, eyes filled with sorrow and regret, not know the boy truly stood before her, not knowing that he was her life saver.

She seemed too emotionally struck to notice the sudden change in Kaneki's expression.

She continued her story, missing the vital clue that may have revealed Kaneki's position to her. "The weird mask wearing figure began to tear the other man apart, like an endless cycle that just repeats itself until only the strongest are left in this _cruel_ world. The moment the second round of bloodshed began, I turned my head, unable to see anymore, too tired to see anymore. But when I shifted my gaze, it brought me to a broken sight. Mangled, broken bones sticking out, flesh jagged, ripped, torn you name it… it was there. The blood splattered at least 5 meters from where she lay, from the last place she'll ever lay. Her breathing was so shallow and soft. Her light groans of agony could easily be mistaken for the sound of a nice peaceful sleep. I soon realised that she was beyond help. She was dying and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. The only thing I could do was comfort her in her last moments. The thought that every second leading up to that moment in her life had been cold, hit me hard. Her life had been so miserable and even in her last moments, she was only greeted by the cold hard concrete in a freezing night with bloodshed every inch in her surroundings. I cried and cried and tried my best to tell her that she was loved. Even if it was only my one soul in this world, she was still loved and always will be at the bottom of my very heart. She stopped taking her shallow but strong breaths indicating something I didn't want to acknowledge. She died, with a face of pain and hurt. I rested my head on her chest for what felt like hours, sobbing at her passing. I didn't realise that the 2 figures that forever changed my life had already left. I didn't even know what happened to them, what had happened to the young man that saved my life."

A sad smile appeared on her face before she continued. "And I probably will never know, because I passed out after that, only to be found by Akihiro the next morning and welcomed into his family."

She turned to face Akihiro for a moment with a face of gratitude, who had his poker face on, obviously trying his hardest to hide his emotions while staring at the cold hard floor. She turned back to Kaneki with the same sad smile. "Ever since then, I never forgave myself for what happened that fateful _unforgettable_ night. I promised that it would never happen again, even if it cost me my life, I would help another. You look so tattered and broken, I can tell by your eyes that you've probably went through something like my experience. Probably something worse considering the emptiness that your eyes harbor. You've probably been neglected all your life and never felt the warm touch of someone who cares for you. So please, let me help you. Let me fulfil that promise."

Kaneki's eyes stayed widened and his face still in its shocked state. He was speechless. She hit the nail right on the head. She had touched Kaneki where he was most vulnerable, where he was almost never touched before in his life; _his heart_. It was so rare for him but he was so emotionally struck, it send a single glistening tear town his left cheek.

"O-okay…" Was all he managed to mutter before they stared at each other for another 5 seconds that felt like eternity for the both of them. Their arms had moved almost in sync to embrace each other in their bodies, sharing their warmth while casting out the deathly cold air that filled their lungs and their surroundings.

They pulled away soon after with a smile on both of their faces, though the girl seemed to be a bit more embarrassed, while Kaneki just kept his dull gaze that had what seemed like a small, happy shine reflecting in the emptiness of his two grey orbs.

For the last time, she grabbed his hand and began to walk him into the darkness of the night.

If he were to analyse his feelings, he had to say that there was a spot of confusion in there. He didn't think that the girl's story would have such a great emotional impact on him. Though he could say it was probably because of the similarities between the two and their pasts.

The three walked off into moon lit night, while the stars lit their path and guided them to their inevitable destination.

* * *

 **Once again, thanks for reading! I found this chapter to be a bit emotional if i must admit T.T but anyway, next update will come soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: Rival

**Hey guys! As I promised, I quickly made the next chapter. And once again, thanks Vi-violence for giving your opinion in my work.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Rival**

A lonely cool breeze swept through the empty, dark streets of Tokyo. The Tokyo everyone knows. The Tokyo filled with secrets and lies. The Tokyo that harbors the spirits of both humans and ghouls.

An eerie silence corrupted the once lively passages leading people to divergent shops that welcome their keen customers with warm smiles of acceptance. The short phrase said to each and every customer indiscriminately that carries a heavy meaning in each and every one of its words; _"Welcome to-"._

The countless varieties of design and purpose created by humans and ghouls alike; the souls that liven Tokyo. The stores that all have their own voices, announcing their place in this world. The gossip and chatter that coats Tokyo throughout the day without rest.

The noisy cars carrying all sorts of passengers; students; playful children; workers; tourists; _humans_ ; _ghouls_.

All of which is asleep, blanketed by the night's darkness. Pillowed by the Moon's soft and gentle light. Hushed by the countless stars' twinkling and dancing in the beautiful midnight sky.

Tokyo is sleeping, resting for the next day.

* * *

The faint sound of footsteps obstructed the smooth silence in one of Tokyo's many wards.

3 people walked its empty streets, their snowy, silky and long hair all glistening under the moonlight, gracefully waving about at the presence of every breeze.

Although they all seemed to walk in sync, their feelings were nowhere near as close.

One had a perfect emotionless poker face with a pair of dull grey eyes, completely mastering the expression in every way possible. Another had a face of annoyance, staring daggers at a certain milky haired individual. The other had her head held high, with a proud face as if she had accomplished one of her life goals and had just crossed it off her bucket-list.

Their moods never seemed to change throughout their long journey, which was quite funny if you think about it. They were like robots who were set to do one task and one task only; walk.

 _How far is their house?_

 _It feels like we've been walking for at least 30 minutes._

 _I wonder what I'll look like._

 _They don't live alone do they? No, of course they don't, Gazel said it's a small family._

 _I hope the people are nice, I honestly don't want any more trouble._

 _When I get there, I should ask if I could stay for a while 'cuz I have absolutely no clue where the hell I am. I would need a place to fall back on if necessary._

 _I'm probably in another random ward huh? That means I'll need to know how to get back to the 20th._

 _But staying with them means I would need a steady food source and a whole lot of excuses to refuse the food I'm given._

 _Though I guess I could force some down at times…_

Although Kaneki looked like a robot with his unflinching poker face, he certainly wasn't one with all the different thoughts racing through his mind.

He carefully analysed his position to identify at all the possible scenarios that could sprout from a situation like this, just like he usually would.

Kaneki is a type of person that is so hard to annoy. Near to nothing works on him, he always keeps his cool and never gets distracted. A relatively calm guy.

But despite all that, a certain boy to his far left is touching a lot of nerve, and Kaneki doesn't like _one bit_.

The boy kept shooting Kaneki hateful glances every now and then, sometimes looking disgusted while other times looking annoyed.

Everything about Kaneki Akihiro hated, his eyes, his hair, his face, his personality, his mysterious and sudden appearance in his life, his _everything!_

But it was all behind many reasonable reasons in his mind.

Whenever he glanced at Kaneki, he would look at his pale face, then look down at his torn and tattered trench coat and repeat the process.

 _Is he ever going to fucking stop?_

 _He's such a pussy, he should just man up and say to my face why the fuck he hates me._

At this point, Akihiro is practically turning his head to face Kaneki and give him more of his dirty looks.

 _It's so obvious it's as if he wants me to notice him giving me dirties._

 _Maybe he does… in that case…_

While keeping his head forward and face neutral, Kaneki shot his eyes at lightning speed straight to his left, resulting in eye contact with a particularly annoyed boy.

Kaneki noticed that the boy was staring right at his chest. They were locked on there as if he was expecting something to pop out, not realizing that Kaneki was staring right back at him.

Subconsciously, Kaneki flinched and let his head turn to the boy.

Kaneki stared at the boy staring at his chest in total and utter confusion. Naturally, he went through any of the possible reasons in his head to try and understand why the hell the boy was staring at his slightly exposed chest.

 _Maybe he's trying to figure out what happened to me? No, if that was the case, then I'm pretty sure he would just ask considering how forward this guy acts._

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _Then what the hell man, what's his fucking problem?_

 _Holy shit, he gets on my nerves._

As Kaneki's hateful thoughts raced through his mind, he didn't notice his fists clenched in both hands, responding to his annoyance. His facial expression had also morphed from one of pure confusion to one of hate with a hint of disgust.

 _I can tell, we won't get along…_

Although the two looked completely different, their personalities were far from it. They both shared the careless plain face with matching personas, yet they didn't seem to get along for a reason Kaneki so curiously is digging for.

The two stayed staring for at least 5 seconds before one of their gazes began to shift.

The silky-haired boy looked up from an exposed chest with jealousy to see a slightly angered face printed on the snowy-haired older male.

He was shocked, and wasn't able to hide it. He didn't realize Kaneki had been staring at him the whole time. His reflexes told him to quickly turn his turn his head away and face front.

His face was splashed with worry when he realized Kaneki was still staring at him. He thought fast and decided to act cool with a neutral face until an angered Kaneki would stop staring back at him.

Akihiro thought it had worked because he eventually did look away but it had been for another reason, a reason that also explained why Kaneki had a smirk on his face.

Kaneki kept that smirk for 3 seconds before replacing it with glee.

 _Haha, so that's why he was staring huh? Well, I guess someone's jealous._

Akihiro's chest was completely flat compared to Kaneki's, who had a lot of muscle built there as a result of his past experiences. It's laughable to compare the two.

Kaneki indulged the felling a little longer before deciding to become reasonable about the situation.

He wanted to be the sensible one between their not so sensible relationship.

Taking action, he turned to boy who had slowed down considerably in an attempt to get out of Kaneki's field of view.

"Akihiro." He said simply, which was just enough to get his attention through a cold breeze.

"What do you want?" The boy also turned his head to face who called his name, his reply coming to sound just as simple as the question itself.

Kaneki stopped moving and decided to continue the simple flow of words that formed their sentences by asking "Why do you hate me so much?"

The question seemed to catch him off guard because he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes immediately widened and his mouth slightly opened.

It seemed like that was the reaction Kaneki had expected and showed a genuine smile as a result.

Gazel had also stopped and turned around, confused at the relatively straight forward question that left Kaneki's mouth.

Now the 3 of them were staring at each other.

Though the boy's shocked reaction only lasted for 2 seconds after a sigh escaped his lips and he pulled out his serious face. "It's was pretty obvious huh? Well I hate you 'cuz because you look like the kind of guy who's good at everything and always rubs it in. Y'know, the guy that everyone hates?"

Kaneki kept smiling, though it was only a slight smile. "So you judge a book by its cover do you? If I judged you, I'd say you're the guy who always tries to win but fails miserably, sulking and angry as a result." Kaneki's voice stayed calm and level throughout the whole sentence.

Akihiro flinched when he said that, and Kaneki assumed it was because he hit the nail right on the head.

The boy didn't know how to respond, he was completely speechless, mainly because those were the exact words that so many people he had met seemed to have said.

A wave of sadness crashed into him, his eyes slowly make their way to the ground as if it would offer him comfort.

Gazel calmly and quietly walked over to Kaneki who seemed rather confused by the saddened boy's vulnerability.

She wore a slight smile and warmly whispered in his ear. "Kaneki, ya shouldn't have said that…"

Kaneki shifted his dull, grey eyes towards the girl beside him, still carrying his confused cast. "O-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that something like that would affect _him_ so much…" He had emphasized the 'him' to indicate how pathetically he overestimated the boy's toughness, though she didn't seem to notice.

He wasn't really sorry for the boy, he just felt sorry for making the girl uneasy. He had opened his heart a little to care for the girl, even if it was just a centimeter.

He couldn't really care less about the annoying boy as his tolerance for bullshit had gone down considerably in the past year.

She nodded and continued whispering. "It's not really a big deal, it's just that he got bullied a lot in school and umm… a sentence like that always seemed to make its way into the bully's mouth. I guess it was mainly because, as you said, he always judges books by their cover, and judges them badly. Not to mention, you resemble a particularly… well, _horrible_ bully he had met."

Kaneki just seemed to blink his tired unconcerned eyes while keeping his neutral face in check. He even had to try hold back a yawn. Kaneki couldn't find a single drop of sympathy for the boy, mainly because it's hard to find sympathy for someone who, to him, acted like a complete dick.

The black-haired boy looked up as he noticed Gazel exchanging words quietly with a poker faced Kaneki.

He had seen this scene so many times. _Too_ many times. The younger, more mature girl had always saved him and talked sense into the bullies, sparing him the hurt for another day.

She had gone through more, _way more_ than him. His problems were microscopic compared to hers, yet her change in behaviour as a result of her problems were microscopic to his.

What a disgrace, how _shameful_.

Why had he turned a blind eye to such a thing? It had been so blatantly there in front of him. It wouldn't take long for even a blind man to notice something was off.

You didn't need to see it, feeling or hearing it would've been enough to notice its presence.

He's getting tired of it.

He can't stay needy for a little girls help forever!

If he's going to do something about it, it's going to be _now._

If he's going to stop this, it's going to be _now!_

If he's going to grow up, it's going to be _NOW!_

He's going to do what Gazel had been secretly hoping he would do for a long time now.

He took 3 steps forward, until he was 1 meter away from Kaneki and Gazel.

Their conversation stopped and they simultaneously shifted their gazes to look at the sudden change in the boy's behavior.

His brunette eyes comfortably resting on the white-haired boy's stone cold ones, exchanging meaningless, empty looks.

It stayed that way for an unexciting 5 seconds, both figures unflinching. But Akihiro still seemed uncomfortable staring at the dullest, most empty eyes he had ever seen.

The both stayed staring, one person expecting the other to start something, to get them out of this rather weird situation.

Unable to take the tension, Akihiro decided to finish what he started. "I realized we can't go on like this for long. If I can judge you again, I'd say that you would treat someone the way they would treat you. If that's the case, then hating you wouldn't be wise right?"

Kaneki didn't respond. He just kept staring at the boy, waiting for him to finish his point.

Realizing he wasn't getting an answer he continued. "That being said, and also learning from past experiences, I frankly wouldn't want a bad relationship with you."

Kaneki still hadn't moved a muscle to the sound of his words, though he did find it a bit interesting.

"But, that doesn't mean I want to be friends with you. I realized that you're quite tough, physically and mentally. Judging once more, I'd say you would stick up for someone no matter what who would also stick up for you, the guy who would keep a promise or a secret no matter what it is. Having those qualities, I realized you're the perfect person to be my _rival_."

That one word echoed in Kaneki's mind a bit.

 _Rival…_

His head tilted and his face bore a rather confused expression.

 _Rival…_

He found it quite interesting because he'd never had a rival before. The thought of having one never even crossed his mind once, mainly because he was so weak before that he wasn't fit to be a rival.

Keeping his confused state, he added a smile to his face. "So you make a big decision out of a whole load of assumptions? A whole load of judges?"

Akihiro grew angry, he thought he had made valid points in his words. He thought he had been smart for once, but clearly not to that selfish grey-eyed jerk. "Yeah, and what of it? You better be honored to be my rival 'cuz not everyone gets a chance like this. So be grateful ya hear?"

Kaneki tilted his head back in place and gave the rambling boy a neutral face with a slight smile.

"But I haven't given you my consent to the matter Mr Akihiro." Kaneki sarcastically replied, holding his hands out in a gesture to emphasize his point further.

"So I take that as you don't comply with my demands _Mr Ken_." Akihiro's statement mirrored the sarcasm and hand gesture Kaneki used, which made the white-haired boy's smile grow just the slightest.

Kaneki's face held it dull, never changing eyes but harbored the smile despite it.

 _How interesting… alright, I'll play with you for a while._

At the corner of his eye, Kaneki saw a smile on Gazel's happy expression, proving her relief and agreement in the situation.

"But it also doesn't mean that I haven't given you my consent." Kaneki sealed his vague agreement with a fast wink.

For the first time, Akihiro smiled at the pale boy, genuinely.

Just like Kaneki had, he saw the happy smile printed on Gazel's face, making his smile even wider. He was relived he had finally made her happy by doing something right, and learning from his mistakes.

"C'mon boys, stop idling about and let's get home. We should have been there 30 minutes ago, so chop chop!" Gazel perfectly ended what could have been an awkward situation between the two resolved men, if time kept ticking by.

She gestured the direction in which they should head then began to happily skip that way.

The two boys followed her lead into Tokyo's dark streets, both their eyes twinkling with resolve.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading chapter 3! Please leave a comment on what you think about it or what I can improve on. :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Blood

**Hey guys! I'm sorry that the quantity of my chapters is a bit all over the place, but it's because i try to end on a reasonable/good ending.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Blood**

Dull-grey eyes adjusted their vision to the dark after keeping their pale eyelids over them for so long, deep in thought.

The half-ghoul couldn't help but flood his mind what the girl had previously hit him with.

 _"The figure had a strange black leather mask on. It had a creepy lipless grin on it with an eyepatch over the right eye."_

 _I really wanna tell her… I really wanna fucking tell her!_

 _She had probably been wondering all her life who had saved her, AND I'M RIGHT BEHIND HER!_

 _But I can't…_

 _Still, It's all so shockin-_

"So, Kaneki?" Gazel kept her head forward and carried on walking in front of him, though her voice did sound very curious.

"Hmm?" Kaneki shifted his gaze from the floor to the girls head in response, perfectly concealing his thoughts and feeling, being careful not to show any signs of his distress.

Gazel decided to keep her gaze forward while asking the milky-haired boy a question. "So, umm… what _exactly_ happened to you?"

"H-huh?" Kaneki's dull eyes widened a bit, as he was slightly shocked by the sudden question.

"You know… what happened to you to make you so torn up?"

 _Wow… what was I thinking?_

 _What the hell made me think that one of the two wouldn't eventually ask that question?_

 _Come to think of it, did I really expect to just walk in their house, get cleaned and dressed, then go to an already prepared bed all fine and dandy?_

Kaneki mentally face-palmed. _I'm such an idiot!_

The distressed half-human looked down and wore a frustrated expression while resting a hand on his wrinkled forehead.

 _What do I say? What do I say? What do I say?!_

 _Well I know I'm gonna lie about it, question is how am I gonna do tha-_

"It's ok I understand that it happened just recently, you can tell me later if you want." Gazel's voice had a noticeable disappointing tone but her head was still facing forward and her legs still moving.

Releasing his hand and looking up, Kaneki's instinct was to reply to the girl's misunderstanding. "N-no, that's not the reason I was…" He realised a big mistake he was making so he mumbled out the rest of the sentence, which had, luckily for him, missed Gazel's ears. It had also missed Akihiro's who had been curiously listening to their conversation.

He was so relieved that he mumbled the last part of the sentence, because he thought that if he hadn't, then more unanswerable question would have left the eager girls mouth.

"What was that?" Gazel asked in a respective manner, as she always does to the older male. She was so oblivious to Kaneki's dark nailed-hand that had been slapped on his mouth in his attempt to stop any more information from leaving it. She had missed it purely because of her head that was looking where she's going rather than at the boy's struggle to keep his experience from leaking out, which could eventually reveal his half-ghoul nature.

"I got into a fight, a really big one." He lied, cupping his chin on the way.

"Oh…" Kaneki thought he hear a little disappointment in her word, but before he could decide whether it was his imagination or not, she carried on. "So I'm guessing the reason you were sleeping near a tree was because you were knocked out? When did it happen? Why did you fight? Who was involved? How did the fight go down?" The girl eagerly throwing questions at the lying boy.

Kaneki struggled to keep up with the questions she was firing all at once.

He took a deep breath and decided to improvise while hoping for the best.

 _Here goes everything!_

"Well, I wasn't really knocked out you see," while Kaneki gave his 'explanation' on what happened, the trio carried on walking in the dark, "I don't have parents or a house, so I live on the streets. These random 3 guys came up to me at like 9 or something with guns and asked for all my money and my phone. I thought to myself that I wouldn't go down without a fight so I fought as hard as I could."

Kaneki added more emphasis in his words to fill up his emotionless, empty voice and try make the whole thing sound more believable. He still had his hand rested on his chin the whole story, black nails digging in his skin as a result of his nervousness. "I had somehow managed to badly wound 2 of them and the other one seemed too scared so they made a wise choice and ran, I guess they were just bad fighters. Of course, I had gotten hurt badly myself and began to feel dizzy, probably because of the blows and scratches I remember getting to my head and chest. I don't really remember much after that, but I do remember my vision blurring as I was leaning on something for support. And then… black I guess."

"So I guess I passed out after that, and maybe the thing I was leaning on was that tree back there? Who knows." Kaneki was quite pleased the way his story turned out and thought it was believable enough.

 _That should do the trick!_

 _Wait… that also gives me an excuse to stay with them for a while._

 _Perfect! Killed two birds with one stone._

Well, Kaneki was telling some truth in there, and that made him feel a little less guilty, _a little._

"Wait, you live on the streets?" Gazel's words got Kaneki's attention quickly. Although it seemed like she bought the story, she didn't seem to stop dishing out questions Kaneki found so hard to answer.

 _Crap…_

"Well, yes and no. I have a job as a waiter and that's giving me a reasonable amount of money to get food and water, but not enough to start saving to get something like a cheap small flat." Kaneki was once again proud of his answer, proud of his _lie_.

Thinking ahead of time, Kaneki anticipated the bad sides of his answer, something he didn't do with the answer he had given before. Spotting a huge flaw in it, he quickly reassured the worried girl.

"Don't worry though, I like that kind of life. You're free, you're not forced to do anything, and you get to see all those wonderful sights Tokyo has to offer. I really enjoy it, it would be the only life that I would enjoy." He smiled, although he knew she wouldn't see it. It wasn't a happy smile but a sad smile, a smile that pitied himself for not being able to reveal his true life. A smile that hated himself for being unable to tell his true experiences to someone that shared her own tragedies despite not knowing him. A smile that deep down, longed to reach out to someone, to beg for comfort while telling them _everything._

Gazel slowed down to walk right beside the half-ghoul.

She slightly turned her head and eyes to catch Kaneki and his smile, while he stared forward, deep in his saddened thoughts.

The girl looked at the handsome boy for a long time, admiring his positivity. Though her admiration didn't drain her pool of worry. "B-but, that's so lonel-"

"Basically, when live gave me lemons, I made lemonade." Kaneki cut her off, while he also slightly turned his head and dull-grey eyes to look at her.

Gazel titled her head in confusion. "Huh? What's lemons to do with this?"

"W-what…?" Kaneki face looked so disappointed, he finally used that quote in the perfect situation but she just ruined it all. "You don't know what it means? Really?"

"Nope!" Kaneki was confused as to why she sounded so proud.

Their conversation had taken a twist in mood.

"Well, lemons are fruits that are very sour. Sourness represents bad things and suggests hardship in life, while lemonade is a sweet drink which could represent good times. So in the end, the quote is supposed to encourage positivity and optimism."

Gazel seemed quite impressed with the older boy's vocabulary and literature skills. "O-oh, right."

However, still seemed uneasy about Kaneki's 'life'. From her own experiences, she didn't enjoy that life-style one bit. But, after hearing Kaneki's story in a similar situation, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to bring Kaneki out of that 'life' somehow but had a feeling that he wouldn't let her.

That fact that he enjoyed that 'life', and that his situation was easier than hers (as he had a decent job) made her a bit less uneasy.

"I know that you want to help me, but getting me out of the life that I'm so used to and like so much isn't going to help. Don't worry Gazel, this life isn't as bad as it seems." Kaneki read her thoughts like a book, which brought Gazel to a conclusion.

She soon realised that even if she wanted to do something, she couldn't because of two main reasons. One: Kaneki enjoyed that 'life', and he wouldn't let her help. Two: There literally is no way she can help the man.

Akihiro grew uninterested in their conversation and began texting, the light from his phone diminishing the darkness around him.

They 2 stayed awkwardly quiet, both facing front while standing next to each other.

"Say, Gazel." Kaneki broke the tension with the classic conversation starter.

"Yeah?" Gazel replied with the classic reply.

"I meant to ask this question before but with all that happened in such little time, I couldn't really fit it in." Kaneki, for what felt like the hundredth time, spoke with yet another dull toned voice.

"Go ahead. I asked you a lot of questions, so I guess it's only fair if you ask me some too."

"Where exactly am I?" Kaneki bluntly asked the question bubbling in his mind.

The sound of the simple question brought a complicated response from the girl. Her whole body flinched as she turned her head in shock. "W-WHAT? YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE?"

"Nope."

"O-oh, that's a surprise. Well, this is the 14th ward, west of Tokyo."

 _Oh thank GOD! For a while I thought I may have been in a parallel universe._

 _The 14th ward… It should be easy getting to the 20th ward in a ward so close._

"Oh, thanks. One more question if I may?" Kaneki spoke with his relieved tone.

"Yeah, sure."

He turned to face Gazel completely with a raised snowy eyebrow. "How far exactly is this house of yours? It feels like we've been walking for hours."

"Oh, ahahaha. I thought you would ask that eventually, but I never thought you would time it so well Kaneki!" She jogged in front of Kaneki a meters then turned her body to face left on the pavement they were walking on.

Kaneki soon caught up with her and so did Akihiro, who had just put his phone away and started searching all his pockets.

They now faced a rather casual looking house that wasn't big, nor was it small. It had white painting on its front and two flower baskets, one on each side. It didn't have any extraordinary features, except for a large welcome matt at the front door that had colourful flowers and stars and rainbow dash zooming across. Kaneki raised an eyebrow at the sight, as invisible question marks hovered over his head.

"Don't ask, 'cuz I don't even know." Kaneki turned around to see a slightly embarrassed Gazel, who was also staring at the matt.

"R-right." Kaneki didn't know why he hesitated, he really didn't know what to think of the… weirdness.

 _Probably the work of a gran, seen similarly weird things made by grans before._

Finally, Akihiro stopped rustling in his pockets and brought out a silver key. "There it was…" He mumbled the words so quietly, he barely even heard them himself. But Kaneki heard them loud and clear thanks to his overly sensitive ears.

Just as Akihiro was about to put the key to the keyhole, the door opened.

A short figure stood before them. "Oh there you darlings were! I was getting terribly worried, why are you so late?!" A trembling voice lifted the heads of the 3 to look at a wrinkled old gran shaking horribly. Her back was hunched and her hands were trembling, unknown if it was from worry or from her elderly state.

"Sorry gran, it's a long story but we have a guest, his name is Kaneki." Akihiro put the keys back in his pocket and introduced Kaneki to his gran.

Kaneki gave a small smile and a wave. "It's a pleasure ma'am, thank you in advance for your hospitality." Kaneki added a bow before looking up to properly examine the lady.

"Oh hello there dear," she responded in the classic 'caring granny' voice, "what a well-mannered young man! My name is Mrs Sozaka and you're very welcome. I'm so sorry I hadn't noticed you before, my eye sight is very poorly you see." She pushed her little granny glasses up the bridge of her nose to indicate where they were, although it wasn't really necessary.

Before the conversation got any further, another figure came to the front door. "Mrs Sozaka please, you mustn't get up and run like that! Be more careful next time."

"Oh be quiet Toshio! My dear sweeties have been missing for 25 minutes and you worry about me?" The gran didn't even bother turning around to reply. "Anyway, say hello to our guest Kaneki here."

Kaneki examined the man, as he would every time he was introduced to a new character.

The man was quite tall with chocolate hair, and brushed it back which gave him a slightly professional look. His eyes matched his hair colour and so did his suit and trousers. He looked like a relatively smart business man.

But Kaneki didn't register any of that, _none_ of it.

He was more concerned about something else, something more important.

It intrigued Kaneki but worried him at the same time.

 _Why is so much happening in only one day? In less than one day…_

The two met eyes, dull-grey empty ones looking into the dark chocolate, interested eyes.

Kaneki's nose had already been going off before they met their gazes.

He didn't like what he smelt, not one bit.

 _Blood._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, leave a review because it really helps! I read each and every review to try and improve my writing and the plot in my story.**


	5. Chapter 5: Meal

**Hey guys! I** **'may'** **not be uploading in a bit for 'reasons' but I hope you guys can bear with me. I decided that I would write a longer chapter since I** **'might'** **not be uploading for a bit. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Meal**

"I don't see him anywhere, maybe he's dead," an annoyed voice scattered through the emptiness of the 13th ward, "but then again, we would still be left with his body… Ugh! Can we please just forget about that half-freak and go already? We can just say to the superiors that the crows ate him or something."

"Yeah, you're right. Why are we bothering to search for that useless prick? It's better off without him anyway. We'll the others that we're leaving and that ghouls must have got hold of his body, there's no way he would've won against those two anyway. Haha."

The cold, heartless voices swept through the silent night like a sinister chill, only adding to the already cold atmosphere. The voices that were 'saving' humanity from the bloodthirsty ghouls were just bloodthirsty themselves, wrapped in their twisted thoughts of annihilation and bloodlust.

* * *

 _Blood_ = _Ghoul._

 _Ghoul_ = _trouble._

 _Trouble_ = _bad._

Kaneki's thoughts worked like clockwork, analysing his situation.

 _Why did a Ghoul have to show up now of all times?_

Kaneki didn't like the thought of it, but reality doesn't care what you think.

It doesn't care what you want or feel, it just keeps on toying with people's lives, _unfairly_.

For Kaneki now, reality seemed to have given him a rather… weird experience to say the least.

 _What the hell is a ghoul doing in their house!_

 _He's definitely not a sibling or father 'cuz the rest of them are humans._

 _Maybe a friend?_

 _UGGHHH! I don't want any more trouble!_

He felt curious about the situation, but more than anything, troubled.

They didn't know what to think of each other. They just stared and stared and stared for what felt like eternity.

While Kaneki's face was completely emotionless, hiding his thoughts and feeling perfectly, the taller man seemed rather… confused.

Kaneki knew why the man was so troubled.

 _That bastard is probably thinking "Huh? A human? No! He smells off! I wonder why he smells so weird."_

 _Well, the best choice as of now is to make him think that I'm human._

"It's nice to meet you Mr Toshio, my name is Kaneki." Kaneki's voice kept its emotionless tone and his face kept his expressionlessness as he added a bow at the end of his sentence.

"Hello there boy, what on Earth happened to you?" Toshio's reply carried an over exaggerated worry in its words.

"I was-"

"Oh my, you're right! How could I be so blind to this poor young man's injuries?! Right in you go Kakeni, I will show you the bathroom for a shower and bring you some fresh new clothes." The oblivious gran cut Kaneki off in her delayed reaction to the white-haired boy's condition.

 _Huh? What did she call me?_

 _Kakeni… she said my name before just fine so why is she having trouble remembering it now?_

"Don't be shy now dear, come on in you go!" The granny's voice was so shaky and weak but the spirit in it was one of the strongest he'd ever heard, and frankly he was jealous of it. His voice has _no_ spirit in it whatsoever, just empty words.

Kaneki began to make his way into the house, smelling the freshness of a lavender air freshener.

 _Wow, it's as if they knew a guest was coming. Everything is so clean._

"Oh please Mrs Sozaka, allow me to show our guest. You're not fit to do so in your condition." Toshio said before gently resting his hand on the old woman's shoulders, while gesturing her to move from the entrance into the house.

Mrs Sozaka and Toshio both went the first room to the left of the hallway, a _seemingly_ overprotective Toshio leading the gran.

Kaneki couldn't help but look at the ghoul helping the old human in suspicion.

 _I'll have to ask about this guy later…_

Just as Kaneki started looking around, he heard someone smirk behind him and turned around to see wide grin on his rival's face. Between giggles, the smirking boy said "K-Kaken-ni…"

"Haha, very funny 'Ahokiri'." Kaneki remarked as he watched the two get in the house.

"You're gonna regret that cum-head." Akihiro replied with a menacing look.

"Oh yeah? How so?"

 _Cum-head… really?_

 _Though I must admit, that's pretty funny._

"I gave you a little chance to apologize but it seems you weren't wise enough. Since I already know you mental strength isn't very strong, how about we test your physical strength?" Akihiro challenged the pale skinned boy in a mocking fashion.

"That language is very smart coming from an infant. But then again, it's very dumb considering the person you're talking to is someone who just won a fight against 3 thugs. So, how do you plan on testing my physical strength?" Kaneki accepted his challenge in his own mocking words.

"An arm wrestle." The boy's reply came simple, completely ignoring the insult he had just received.

"That's it? Talk about a let-down. And here I thought you were talking big, looks like I overestimated you… again." Kaneki put on fake sad expression to emphasize his disappointment.

"I thought I would go easy on you with a simple arm wrestle since you're all beaten up, but fine, how about we add a weight lifting match in there?"

Kaneki gave a small smile. "Now that's more like it!"

Although he knew he was going to win, the thought of spicing up things between Akihiro and him made him slightly exited, _slightly_.

Kaneki subconsciously began to remove his shoes and push them to the side of another welcome matt inside the house, this time it was only brown with white writing.

 _At least this one's normal._

"But first let's get you cleaned up!" Gazel caught the attention of both the boys as she also removed her shoes, turned to a nearly empty shoe rack that Kaneki was standing right next to, and placed them at the very top.

"O-oh…" Kaneki struggled to keep himself giving a small laugh of embarrassment as he got his shoes and did the same, putting them below Gazel's.

"See, this is what I mean when your mental strength level is drastically below the average human's." Akihiro sounded so proud to be able to roast Kaneki again.

The pale teen shot the proud boy a half-hearted, sarcastic thumbs up before turning to face Gazel.

"Umm, by the way Gazel, who is that man?" Kaneki asked bluntly with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Oh, he's just recently started coming here as a caregiver. When Akihiro and I go to school, he comes here to take care of gran. But I overheard them saying that this weekend, he gonna sleep here for some reason. I don't know why he does that 'cuz I didn't ask. So that means he'll be sleeping here today since it's Friday, but it's not really a big deal because we have a spare bed anyway."

 _I see… he could still be dangerous though._

She looked happy and excited to have Kaneki in the house, missing the look on his face that was in deep thought. It frankly confused Kaneki why she was so happy but he quickly put the thought to the back of his head when she started talking. "I'll go tell Mr Toshio to go get you some of his clothes while I show to the bathroom!"

"That's okay Gazel," a voice coming closer and closer from the room the ghoul and the gran had entered caught their ears, " _I'll_ show our guest to the bathroom. You can prepare dinner while Akihiro, you let Kaneki borrow some of your clothes. I think he'll fit in your size better than mine."

 _Wait, why does he want to show me to the bathroom?_

 _What is he up to?_

"Bu-"

"Alright." Akihiro cut Gazel off and walked to the end of the hallway to some stairs at the right, and began to climb the spiral staircase to his room.

"Alright..." Gazel dropped her head in defeat and dragged her feet straight ahead to a kitchen door.

 _Do they really have dinner this late? Well lucky me…_

The man still couldn't pick up what was off about Kaneki's scent, but it didn't bother him because it made the boy smell absolutely _delicious!_

As Gazel turned around, the kitchen door half opened, she began to converse some sort of conversation with Kaneki.

But the man wasn't listening to it what so ever, he was too bust admiring the sweet, delicious scent the boy let off. Saliva trickled down his mouth as his lips formed an evil grin.

 _When this boy leaves this house, he is so mine! You came just in time, It's been a while since I ate and I was getting worried I wouldn't be about to find food._

Sadistic thoughts of tearing and ripping tender and juicy flesh raced through his mind before he noticed he was getting too excited and snapped out of them.

He straightened up and wiped the saliva trail off his chin just in time before Kaneki waved at Gazel before she entered the kitchen. When she left, he turned around and looked up to the man.

 _Phew_ , the ghoul thought, _if I hadn't fixed myself there then it may have caused trouble._

"Alright this way." Toshio began to make his way towards the stairs across the hallway, While Kaneki silently followed.

All the walls in the house were white as snow, giving the illusion that it was cleaner than it actually was. Not that the house wasn't clean though. It didn't have much of an exciting element to it because of the simplicity and lack of decoration.

Kaneki didn't notice any of it though, in fact, he hadn't paid attention to any of his surroundings on the way to their destination. He was too busy giving the leading man scary emotionless faces of disgust and wariness.

He had seen the whole thing. _Everything_ at the corner of his eye back there, he saw it; the saliva, the grin, the heavy breathing.

 _This guy thinks he's so slick and smooth does he?_

 _How dumb can he get?_

 _I saw everything._

Kaneki wasn't particularly happy with the memories of a certain purple-haired gourmet that came with the way this man was acting. It just made Kaneki hate him even more.

 _He probably wants me when I step outside this house._

 _Still, I should be careful of him even when I'm inside the house without making it look obvious._

The whole journey was silent, too silent.

Kaneki wanted to start a conversation with the man, out of interest.

"Thank you for showing me the way sir, I really appreciate it!" Kaneki almost made himself sound too thankful, but still made it sound perfectly innocent.

"Oh no problem! You're a very well-mannered boy, just like Mrs Sozaka said you were! It's rare to find a boy like you." The man replied in a normal way, like any _normal_ person would.

"Haha, thanks."

"By the way, we have fried chicken and French fries for dinner. Any particular part of the chicken you would like?" The man turned his head and eyed Kaneki to see his reaction.

Kaneki prepared himself for this beforehand and was going to say he didn't want any. But seeing as things didn't go as he had expected and a ghoul showed up, he decided to switch things up a little.

"Sorry, I'm a vegetarian. Is it okay if I can just have the French fries?" Kaneki decided not to completely refuse the food, but to cut on the amount he would be forced to eat. Completely refusing the food would be too suspicious, especially for the ghoul who was confused about his scent, and he just couldn't risk getting discovered.

"Oh I see, sure no problem." He turned back around and seemed to be satisfied with Kaneki's answer.

"We're here." Toshio opened a door and the bathroom was revealed. It shone brightly because of how clean it was. "Your towel is here and so will your clothes when Akihiro brings them. There is shampoo, conditioner and body wash in soap dispensers on the walls near the bath tub. Enjoy your shower."

"Thank you!" When the man left, Kaneki closed and locked the door behind him, got undressed and turned on the hot water for a shower.

* * *

Kaneki stepped in the living room after around 5 minutes of exploring.

"Took you long enough cum-head." Kaneki looked at an empty living room except for the presence of one individual, Akihiro.

 _Cum-head… again?_

"Do those clothes fit you fine?" The boy asked, relaxing on a couch.

Kaneki was given a white hoodie and grey jeans.

 _Are hoodies and jeans all they have?_

"Yeah, they're fine. I guess the really suit me huh?" Kaneki said the last sentence to himself while staring at his new clothes.

The colour of the hoodie and the jeans matched perfectly with his hair and eyes. It's as if they were destined to be for him.

"Perfect, 'cuz I wouldn't want you making an excuse when you lose like 'oh, it's because my sleeves are too tight!' or something. Anyway, it's almost time for dinner. Let's hurry this up." Akihiro smiled then bounced off the couch and walked to a coffee table located near the middle of the room. "Oh by the way, I didn't have any spare pyjamas so your gonna have to sleep with those, sorry bro."

"Its fine, I guess you could say I'm used to it." The half-ghoul followed the oblivious boy who was unaware who he was truly going to arm wrestle. _The infamous SS rated half-kakuja: Centipede_. If you think about it, the humungous difference in strength between the ordinary boy and the half-ghoul was laughable.

That poor bot didn't stand a chance, not against a half-ghoul who single-handedly took down Aogiri's infamous Tatara and Noro. Even If it was just barely.

Two elbows were placed on the table, one elbow was expected to be knocked down and marked a looser.

"Are you ready to lose bakaneki?" Akihiro mocked.

"Not to a naïve little kid like you, no." Kaneki replied with menacing eyes that contributed to the tension.

The two elbows inched closer until their hands were able to grab hold of each other. Kaneki's freezing cold hand warming up in the boy's warmer one.

 _Right, how am I going to go about my way doing this?_

Kaneki's brain quickly thought of how he should defeat the boy.

 _Well, the best option I have is to put enough strength in to reflect the normal strength of a human my age._

Deciding that was the only reasonable course of action, the teen tightened his grip, indicating that he was ready.

Akihiro begun the countdown. "Okay the match starts when I say go. 3, 2, 1…"

After not hearing a 'go' for 2 solid seconds, Kaneki looked up to ask the boy what was wrong. Just when he opened his mouth to ask, he heard "GO!"

The weaker boy put all his strength into his cheated start. He managed to push Kaneki's hand two thirds of the way down until Kaneki started to retaliate.

Though, the reason why Kaneki's hand got pushed back so far wasn't because of the delayed start he got, but because of his quick thinking.

When the other boy had started pushing Kaneki's cold hands, Kaneki's instinct told him to push back, but why would he do that when the boy had just given him a chance to look more _human_?

A normal human wouldn't immediately start retaliating, when only a single newton is pushed against their hand.

Adding a fake grunt, Kaneki successfully pushed Akihiro's hand down to the table, labelling him victorious.

"Aww man! I lost!" Akihiro sounded really disappointed, and slightly embarrassed after all those remarks he made about beating Kaneki.

"Of course you did, you should have known that from the start."

"Well considering the age difference, I think I've done a pretty good job almost winning at the start."

"That because you cheated idiot."

"Wha-! Of course not! When did I cheat? I counted down, said go, kept my elbow on the table, and started pushing your hand down only after saying go, how could I have possibly cheated?" Akihiro gave an over the top sarcastic reply, which only made Kaneki give a half-hearted stare then roll his eyes.

"Oh there you two are! Dinner's ready, come eat your food!" Gazel popped her head in and out of the room, notifying the boys.

"Well I guess we'll do our weight lifting contest some other time, so don't think you've won just 'cuz it's 1:0." Akihiro said before running ahead of Kaneki.

"Yeah…" Kaneki mumbled, unfocused in what the boy actually said because of certain words echoing in Kaneki's mind.

 _Dinner…_

 _Food…_

 _Eat…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _Fuck…_

Kaneki nose iched as he entered the dining room after Akihiro.

"Kaneki!" Gazel called out while waving then pointed to a seat next to her.

Kaneki gave a warm smile as he made his way to the stinking table of human food. He sat down before a huge plate of oily, fried potatoes. The stench made him so nauseous.

He also saw a cup of water, filled to the top. This gave Kaneki some relief, thankful it was water and not some sort of juice or soda.

He quickly scanned around him seeing the old granny carefully cutting her chicken breast and Akihiro munching on his food loudly.

 _No sign of Toshio…_

"Where's Mr Toshio?" Kaneki curiously and suspiciously whispered to Gazel, who just put her cup of water down.

"Oh, he insisted that he would get some shut-eye without dinner." She continued eating chicken after she replied.

"Oh okay."

 _That fucking asshole, I force myself to eat this crap just to look human in front of him and he doesn't even show up?!_

 _I swear, I wanna beat his ass more than anything right now, especially more than eating this junk…_

 _Okay whatever, I better get this over and done with…_

Not wanting to touch anything, Kaneki picked up his fork and stabbed the smallest french fry he could find.

He closed his eyes and shoved it to the back of his mouth, swallowing it instantly.

The muddy taste slowly started to occupy his mouth as Kaneki reached for his cup of water.

 _I've been through worse, come on this should be a piece of cake._

 _But still, it feels like I'm swallowing muddy worms from a swamp!_

 _Ugh, the oil just makes it so much worse…_

Not wanting to drag the torture any longer, he decided to fill his mouth with the muddy worms that found themselves on his plate.

 _Shove it down!_

 _Shove it down!_

 _Oh, please… just stop._

Kaneki didn't know who he was pleading to, he just didn't want the bad taste to fill his mouth, to fill his mind. The bad taste of not only the food, but the memories of pain, and disgust, _sorrow_. The bad taste of reality once again toying with his life for pleasure, _for twisted pleasure._

 _Can't I just taste something better for once?_

 _Just, once?_

The mud, rocks and worms that filled him scratched and clawed at his stomach endlessly.

 _Just please keep it down for now, I'll get you something better, more delicious later I promise._

His dirt filled, _now hungry_ stomach rejected his offering in screaming pain causing Kaneki to let out a little groan.

 _I know it's making you hungry for real food, just get through it okay?_

It's as if Kaneki is the vessel where all the sadness, sorrow and despair is kept stored inside. A vessel without an exit but with an entrance.

…

That one too familiar _female_ voice spoke out. "You've changed a long time ago, yet you still haven't gotten used to it. You're still in the middle Ken, chose one side, the right side, and cling to it for life, or let them both go and disappear into nothingness."

…

…

…

 _No._

…

 _I SAID NO!_

 _I lost my friends once thanks to you, I'm not falling for that crap again!_

…

 _You said to choose didn't you? Well I'm choosing both sides!_

…

…

…

"Hah, who would've known a scrawny kid like you would choose the right answer?" As the sentence reached its echoing end, the female voice slowly quietened down, letting out a giggle before her disappearance.

 _Yeah, I didn't even know I had the strength to do so._

…

…

…

Kaneki opened his eyes, his vision as well as his hearing returning to him with the delivering sight and sound of reality.

He soon realised he had been closing his eyes the whole ordeal, enduring it all painfully at the back of his mind without letting _any_ of it escape.

He endured it alone, like he always had. Taking the bullet without his friends even hearing the gunshot, without his friends even seeing the gun, without his friends even smelling the smoke.

After his blurry vision finally cleared, he saw the plates of the 4 people at the dinner table almost empty. One in particular completely empty.

He had devoured all his French fries without leaving a trace.

 _It felt like forever… but I did it, I did it!_

Kaneki stared at his plate, ignoring the immensely growing pain in his stomach. He finally stood up, pushing his chair back in the process.

"Oh, you've finished! How was it? Good? Bad? C'mon tell me!" Gazel desperately asked Kaneki for his review on her cooking.

He turned around, now facing the completely oblivious girl who had just served him hell. "Thank you so much, it was amazing."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Sorry there was no dessert, we didn't really have much ingredients to make anything in the fridge."

"Oh, that's fine. You've already presented me with such an amazing meal, it would be way too greedy to eat another delicious plate of your food."

"Thanks, hehehe."

All Kaneki seemed to do to repay the girl's kindness was just lie.

Lies, lies, lies.

That's all he will ever do.

That's all he _ever_ was.

"Excuse me, I need the toilet." Kaneki left the table before turning around to give Gazel a thumbs up.

"Oh by the way, your toothbrush is the white one still in its package on the shelf. It's pretty easy to find. Also, is it fine if you sleep on the couch? We don't really have any spare beds. You should find a pillow and a blanket on the couch 'cuz I'm almost done eating and ill prepare it for you." Gazel smiled at Kaneki through her sentence.

"Thanks." Kaneki returned the warm smile, his being colder.

Halfway through the staircase, Kaneki practically sprinted to restroom. He couldn't bare it any more, it was like he was being eaten inside out!

His vision was getting blurry and he was at his limit.

 _Why is it so fucking far away?!_

Kaneki staggered to the door that felt like it was miles away, slamming it open.

Luckily for him, the toilet was relatively close to the entrance.

"BLUGRGGGHHH!"

The seemingly disgusting sound brought so much relief to him, it sparred him so much pain.

The shaking boy looked up from the toilet, staring at the wall for a couple seconds before flushing his vomit.

He stood up and walked over to the sink to rinse him mouth from the horrible, _horrible_ taste.

He looked up to see a white toothbrush, still in its packaging, resting on top of a wooden shelf.

The groaning boy took it and ripped the plastic with his dark nails rather easily thanks to his superhuman strength.

Brushing his teeth not only cleaned them, it also helped remove the terrible odour of human food along with the last remnants of taste that swarmed his tongue.

Just as the half-ghoul finished spitting out the water that rinsed the toothpaste from his mouth, he felt a strange tickling sensation in his stomach.

 _You were full a minute ago, what are you complaining about?_

 _Well, I guess you did get filled the wrong kind of food huh?_

He hung the toothbrush on one of the empty toothbrush holders that were stuck on the tiled wall.

At the corner of his eye, he saw his old tattered clothes peacefully lying in the basket he was told to put them in when he got undressed for a shower.

Kaneki went through his torn cloths finding a wallet in his ripped left trouser pocket and a glasses box (with glasses he no longer needs) in the pocket of his dirty trench coat.

Though his later discovery astonished him completely. There, lying slightly exposed from his right trouser pocket, was a clean, polished, unscratched leather mask.

"W-what?! How did this get here?" Kaneki was totally and utterly confused how his trademark mask somehow appeared in his old trousers.

 _It wasn't here before I passed out!_

 _This is all so weird…_

 _Just like how I suddenly appeared in the 14th ward when I was in the 13th._

 _This doesn't add up, someone must have done this!_

He noticed that a medical eyepatch also lay with the black mask.

 _Who could've… done this?_

The boy sighed.

 _I'm too tired to deal with this now, I need some rest._ He put on the medical eyepatch and exited the room.

The pale boy made his way back down the stairs while perfectly concealing the nostalgic item in his hoodie pocket, his wallet in his trousers. He left the glasses behind because his eyesight was fine now. He was walking ever so slowly because of the fatigue he got from eating so much human food.

Just as he entered the living room, he saw the couch with a pillow and blanket already prepared. He had already saw a key in its keyhole in the living room door before when he left with Akihiro to eat that terribly revolting food.

He closed the door and locked it, in case that unpredictable ghoul sleeping in the very same house as him tries anything, the sound of a forced entry would wake him.

He walked over and jumped in the makeshift bed. It felt like forever since he got a good, comfortable night's rest.

Not a minute passed and he already fell into a deep slumber.

The very slumber that marked his first night with the two.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you like about the story and what I can improve on. I read each and every single review and it warms my heart that you guys are liking my work. I'm only 14 and you guys love my work so much! T.T**


	6. Chapter 6: Journey

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for not updating in a while, I was so busy. But anyway, I tried my best to get this chapter done quickly and here it is! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Journey**

Dark grey eyelashes fluttered open as they were hit with a stunning light.

Kaneki groaned at the warm ray of sunlight that lit up his face as well as the entire room by its welcoming presence.

"Ugh, it's too bright…"

Suddenly he jumped up eyes wide, bulging out of their sockets.

"Where am I?!" Kaneki desperately scanned his surrounding and soon realized it wasn't a dream.

…

"Well, I guess I should leave huh?" Kaneki was strangely saddened when he spoke aloud.

 _She's like me…_

Kaneki slid his feet to the floor, and after another groan he got up and scrubbed his eyes.

 _I wonder what time it is, they should have a clock here right?_

Looking around Kaneki spotted a clock; reading it, he saw _9:69_.

 _Wait what?_

 _8:69_

Rubbing his blurry eyes, he tried to read the digital clock again.

 _8:39_

Sighing, he closed his dodgy eyes to rest them before taking a step forward when he heard a 'thud'.

He jumped back at the sound, looking down on the floor to see where it originated from. There, facing him with its lipless, toothy grin was his favourite battle companion.

 _I still can't get around how you were in my clothes._

Leaving the thought at that, he took down at his makeshift bed, folding the blanket and putting it in the middle of the couch along with the pillow. He took his pitch black mask and shoved it in his pocket once again, somehow concealing it so well that it only made him look like he was just a bit fatter.

As he reached the living room door, the smell of rotting cheese quickly travelled up his sensitive nose.

 _Ugh, breakfast._

He unlocked and opened the door and in a gush, of the scent of more rotting cheese smacked his nose. Ignoring it seemed to be tougher than he expected because he still felt slightly nauseous from eating a whole batch of human food yesterday night.

*grumble*

 _Funny how to ask for food when you know that the only food here is rotting cheese._

*GRUMBLE*

 _Well, that's not the only food here…_

The thought of tasting one of the delicious humans entered him mind.

 _No, what the hell am I thinking? There's no way I'm sinking my teeth into one of them._

 _Just wait a little longer, once I leave I'll get you some fresh meat._

Another, stronger wave of disgust from the dining room hit him harder than before. He gently took a step back, closed the door and took the pleasure of dry heaving for a while.

After feeling slightly better, he opened the door more slowly this time. He opened his mouth to breathe from there deciding that breathing from his nose would increase his risk of an unintentional dry heave.

Groaning, he made his way across the hallway, up the stairs and to the bathroom. After washing his face, he took a good long look at himself in the mirror.

 _How ugly._

He straightened his clothes and moved the mask in his pocket into a less annoying position before checking himself once more. He fixed his eyepatch and smoothened his hair before analysing himself in the mirror again.

 _Still ugly._

*Rumble*

 _Ugly but hungry._

He grinned in the mirror, unable to remove the thoughts of fresh meat soon finding his way into his drooling mouth.

Forcing himself to remove the grin off his face, he wiped the drool of his chin and headed back downstairs.

"Oh, the y'are Kaneki, mornin'!" Gazel soft voice filled his ears, prompting him to stop halfway down the stair case and look down at the girl. "Fancy eyepatch, what's it for?"

Kaneki let out a slight chuckle. "Good morning to you too. Well, you see my left eye hurts like hell when I see bright things with it like sunlight, so the doctor told me to wear this eyepatch throughout the day.

"Oh sorry, get well soon…" Gazel trailed off and lowered her head as a small wave of guilt hit her.

As Kaneki opened his mouth to reassure the young girl, her head immediately shot back up with a cheerful face and happily said, "Anyway, breakfast is ready! Mrs Sozaka and I made some pancakes, they're really yummy I swear!"

 _I wish they were._

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit." Kaneki's voice seemed to have gotten duller and colder when she introduced what was for breakfast but Gazel took no notice and blushed at the handsome boy. She turned around trying to hide her blush before speed walking to the dining room.

Kaneki, the rock that he was, never had a girl fall for him so he completely and idiotically brushed the clue the girl had given him to the back of his mind.

Ken made his way down the stairs to the dining room ever so slowly while replaying how the situation will go in his head.

He can't eat another serving of human food of course, he just _barely_ made it through yesterday night without completely vomiting over his and Gazel's plate. He even managed to play it cool before he got to the toilet.

He needed to leave before eating the disgusting 'breakfast' to go find himself some _real_ food.

Just after descending the last step, Kaneki moaned and clutched his stomach. It feels like he hadn't eaten in weeks and his hunger clawed at his stomach like a caged animal begging to be free. And all that human food he forced down only added to his hunger even more.

He stopped a metre from the closed dining room door before taking a deep breath.

 _This shouldn't be hard._

 _All I need to say is I'm leaving, they'll probably be sad and say at least have breakfast first then I'll say I'm full from yesterday's dinner and then we'll exchange all those crappy good bye stuff._

 _It'll only take about 5 minutes then I can get a proper meal, right?_

Straightening his slouched back and replacing his distressed face with a more neutral one, Kaneki entered the chatty room and found himself smiling.

Instantly Kaneki was challenged with the task of keeping his composure when the foul smell of rotting cheese hit his nose for what felt like the tenth time this morning.

The 4 didn't seem to notice Kaneki open and stand beside the door, smiling.

Toshio was reading a newspaper while sitting on a chair, one leg on top of the other. Mrs Sozaka had her hands clapped together and eyes closed, making a small prayer before gently eating her food in a posh manner. Gazel was talking pointing her fork at Akihiro who was munching away at his breakfast.

"You could at least eat with your mouth closed you pig!" Gazel seemed rather disgusted at the boy's manners.

"Oh-shut-up!" Akihiro spat back at her between loud chews.

Kaneki decided to grab everyone's attention by tapping his foot once on the wooden tiles that made the floor of the room.

"Oh Kaneki you're here, come sit next to me!"

"Kaneki sweetie you're awake. Good morning dear."

"Yo!"

"Hello Ken."

The four gave their greetings to the smiling boy all in their different ways. Toshio grinned (evilly) and went back to reading the newspaper, Mrs Sozaka went to drink down some water, Akihiro carried on munching the pancakes off his plate and Gazel continued to smile at him, waiting for Kaneki to walk over and sit next to her.

When she realized Kaneki hadn't moved a muscle, she asked "Somethin' wrong?"

 _I'm sorry._

Kaneki took a deep breath in then out before saying "I'm really grateful for all that everyone's done for me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay the kindness that's been given."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Kaneki.

 _I'm so sorry._

Kaneki turned his head to face Gazel. "I was a complete stranger to her yet she opened her heart so wide for me. She even took me to her house, fed me and gave me a place to sleep." Kaneki turned to Akihiro, who had pieces of pancake around his mouth. "Even after just meeting him less than a day ago, I made a new friend who's willing to go to unmeasurable lengths to spar, talk and see me." Akihiro smiled and at the corner of his eye, he saw the girl smile too.

Kaneki turned to the old lady and the tall man who conveniently sat next to each other and smiled. "And I thank you two as well, for being so kind and taking care of me without question of who I am." Kaneki purely meant that statement to the wrinkly woman, he completely lost his care for the man after what he saw yesterday.

Kaneki's words were so moving, he even the slightest felt shred of regret and sadness for what he would say next. "I want you all to know I am so deeply grateful for all that you've done and I'm in your debt. I hate to say this so soon, but I must leave."

At the end of his speech Kaneki closed his eyes and gave a bow in respect and as a thanks for his hospitality.

For the next five seconds, everyone had their mouths drooped open in shock. Everyone had their eyes bulging out of their sockets. Everyone didn't know what to say; speechless.

Everyone except Toshio that is. Just after Kaneki mentioned that he's leaving, the man failed to conceal a small grin that Kaneki saw all too well. Though the man did replace his smirk with a forged look of shock.

"N-no, Kaneki… I-I" Gazel was hesitating and unable to form a sentence before she burst into tears.

Mrs Sozaka went to comfort the girl, wrapping Gazel her with her arm and gently stroking her.

Before Kaneki examined anyone else's expressions, he said what he decided to say when things got a bit too 'emotional'. "I'm sorry I said it so suddenly, but I can't stay here forever. I hope you understand that. Don't worry though, it's fine. I'll be sure to visit some time."

"Really?!" Gazel shouted in surprise.

"I was getting worried you were gone for good there man!" Akihiro also seemed relieved to hear about Kaneki's future visits, though he did conceal some of it out of embarrassment.

"Well it's good to see you're coming to visit us dear, you're welcome any time honey." The motherly voice of the old woman also gave it's relief and joy.

"It's been a pleasure." Toshio simply stated giving Kaneki a smile.

"Yes, it has." Ken replied giving the older man a stern, neutral look. He then gave everyone else happy, grateful smiles before turning to leave.

"You don't want breakfast first?" Gazel added a hint of sadness to her voice, in an attempt to make Kaneki feel guilty and join their meal. But no amount of guilt would make Kaneki eat another revolting meal any time soon.

"I'm really sorry, I would honestly love to but I'm still stuffed from yesterday's delicious dinner, I can't eat anymore. Thank you for the offer though, I really appreciate it."

"Oh…"

Then there was silence. Kaneki was facing the door, his back turned to the four of them while they stared back at him.

Before He could carry on walking out the room, Gazel popped up. "Well, let's at least see him off! C'mon guys!"

"That's a wonderful idea sweetie!" The old woman finally let go of her, allowing Gazel to get up from her seat followed by Akihiro and finally Toshio (after giving a small sigh).

They all walked to the front door led by Kaneki. Before he managed to grab the door knob, a concerned voice spoke out. "Maybe I should pack you something in a bag, some food maybe? Or some clothes? Some money?"

"If I could ask for some clothes and some water? Please?" Kaneki thought bringing along some resources would be useful for his unpredictable journey.

Gazel's face lightened up and her lips made a beaming smile. "Sure!"

"I'll go grab our little pirate here some of my clothes." Akihiro laughed pointing at Kaneki's eyepatch.

"Hey that's rude! Y'know, he wears it because his eye can't see light for long, so don't make fun of him it's not funny!"

"Cut me some slack, he looks just like a pirate with those dull evil eyes, white hair and the eyepatch. He has the scary looks, all he needs is a ship and crew. Hey I know! I'll be vice-captain!"

"Akihiro!"

"Haha, sorry I couldn't help myself."

 _Just like Hide and Hinami..._

Kaneki jumped and gasped at the thought of his 'sister' and best friend. How did those comparisons rush to his mind so suddenly?

 _But they do seem so much like Hide and Hinami…_

Kaneki violently shook his head in an attempt to shoo the thoughts away but to no avail. It only brought attention to him as he heard an old woman say "Are you alright dear?"

Kaneki looked up to see the old woman bearing a confused and concerned face. He didn't see Toshio anywhere, and something told Kaneki that something's not right with the guy's disappearance.

"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am. I was just slightly saddened that I'll have to leave."

"Oh, I see. That's understandable, but don't forget you can visit any time honey."

"Thank you-"

Kaneki was cut off by the sound of loud footsteps and a voice shouting his name. "Kaneki!"

He turned his head to see Gazel dragging a black, simple backpack across the floor with one hand while waving with the other. Once she reached the two standing by the door, she unzipped the bag to reveal its contents filled with water bottles.

*huff huff* "Is this enough?" She asked between deep breaths.

Kaneki smiled. "That was fast Gazel. And yes that's perfect, thank you."

"Will you be able to carry that hefty load?" The old woman sounded concerned while eyeing the nearly full bag.

To dismiss the concern rising in the elderly gran, Kaneki used his strength to effortlessly swing the bag onto his back as if it was empty.

"Woah! I knew you were strong but not this strong! I put around eight gallons of water in there!" Gazel was astonished at the teen's strength, even the gran's eyes were wide open.

Kaneki turned to the girl in shock. "E-eight gallons?"

 _What made her think that any normal human would be able to carry that?!_

 _Shit, I made it look too easy._

"That's a hell of a lot." Kaneki added a small hesitant chuckle at the end his sentence in an attempt to try and hide his concern.

"Y-yeah, and you lifted it at if it was nothing…"

Silence.

"…That doesn't make sense, unless you're a…" Gazel's eyes widened with realization while she began to shiver and shudder at a certain thought. "W-WAIT! A-ARE YOU A-A… A…"

 _SHIT!_

 _FUCK… I messed up big time!_

 _Did she notice?!_

 _No way!_

Kaneki's heart raced at a thousand miles an hour, staring at the shocked look of realization on the shivering girl's face. Kaneki stepped back in horror, ready to run when she says the word _ghoul_.

After 5 long seconds of unbearable tension, Gazel finally found the strength to speak again. "An athlete!"

…

…

…

"WHAT?!" Kaneki's mouth hung in utter confusion.

It took a couple more seconds for Kaneki to realize what the hell just happened.

"You're an athlete right? That's so cool!" Gazel's shocked face now had more amazement than confusion.

"W-well, y-yeah sort of…" Kaneki didn't know how or what to feel. He was still shocked at what a close call that was and how dumb the red-haired girl was.

 _Is she dumb?_

 _What are the chances that a 'homeless' guys is an athlete?_

"So that's why you're so muscly. Wo-"

"Well well, so that's why you beat me in that arm wrestle." Kaneki turned his head to see the black-haired boy carrying a small pile of clothes. "If you didn't train and build up some decent muscle then I would have totally beat you."

Kaneki smiled at the boy who was now standing in front of him looking up at his face. "I'm not so sure about that."

"I am! Anyway, here are some clothes. I thought I'd pick the ones that have the darker colours to them 'cuz they look better on you." Akihiro had picked a variety of different types of clothing from t-shirts to sweat pants.

Kaneki's smile grew wider. "Thank you."

"Well done darlings. Akihiro dear, put the clothes in his backpack will you?" The wrinkly, hunched granny pointed to Kaneki backpack and the boy obeyed.

He put the 5 different shirts and 5 different trousers in the backpack, making it look very fat with all the water already in it. Once he zipped the half-ghoul's bag, he slapped it and nodded saying "All ready to go."

Kaneki's mouth got tired from all the smiling he did in the morning and although he wanted to smile to the boy who seemed so much like his best friend, he couldn't. Kaneki wasn't used to smiling so much since all he had experienced in the past 2 years of a ghoul life was hell, and there isn't much smiling in hell.

 **(NOTE: Yes I know Haise Sasaki had been an investigator for more than that but this goes so that Haise regains his memories sooner and this story is the result of that.)**

"Thank you all so much." Kaneki gave a little bow.

"No probs dude."

"Sure no problem!"

"Take care sweetie."

Gazel opened a nearby cupboard on her tip toes and took out several keys hooked together by a heart keychain. She rushed to the door while searching the keys and when she pulled a shiny bronze one, she began unlocking the front door.

The door swung open and there, in front of Kaneki were hundreds of chatty people walking across the pavement. Some were walking to work, some were walking their children to school and some were walking with their friends to college while others out for a walk. It was a beautiful sight to see that Tokyo was alive once again. A gush of fresh air hit Kaneki which was a relieve to him because all he had been smelling was the scent of pancakes in the dining room and on their breaths.

He took a step forward, indulging in the freedom that was set before him. But that freedom couldn't be all fun and games forever, he had a job to do and that was to find his friends.

"Bye! Don't forget to visit us!"

He turned around to see the 3 of them waving. Gazel at the front with a huge bright smile and both hands going crazy while Akihiro and Mrs Sozaka at the back with one hand waving and broad smiles.

Kaneki gave them a smile of his own before saying "I will. Thank you all once again." And with that he set of in his distant journey ahead, ready for each and every obstacle that would come his way.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. And also, thanks for all the reviews that you all have been giving me. I really enjoy reading them and they honestly motivate me to write even more. Please keep those reviews coming!**


	7. Chapter 7: Monster

**Hey guys and thanks for reading another chapter! Please don't forget to give me your review on how you think the chapter went.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Monster**

"I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry Kaneki. Why did I leave you there? Why can't I do anything right? I hate myself… it's been almost 2 years and I just leave him there?! Why am I so stupid?" The pained, saddened voice filled the apartment. The tone was so sad, leaving one to wonder what was truly meant by those words.

* * *

Kaneki had been walking for 10 minutes straight, his legs were on auto pilot because his mind was somewhere else; thoughts.

 _Boy I'm so bloody hungry, how am I gonna get some food?_

 _I can't hunt in broad day light with everyone here._

 _Do I really have to wait until night?_

 _But I'm so-_

*Rumble*

 _… hungry!_

Kaneki's thoughts went wild, fuelled with hunger. He thought of waiting in the 14th ward's secluded alleyway until an unfortunate soul wandered in, but barely anyone goes there. The chances of feeding in that alleyway are really slim, which is why ghouls rarely use it.

 _But it's better than waiting for the night to come right?_

 _What do I have to lose?_

As Kaneki started to make his way to the alleyway, a wave of unease swept over him. He didn't hunt in just over a year, he just freeloaded off the crappy rotten ghoul meat the investigators gave him.

The hairs on Kaneki's neck spiked up as he felt goose bumps begin to form on his arms. The thought of hunting and finally getting something yummy to eat was so exciting!

The spikey hairs on his body soon flattened when he was greeted with the disgusting stench of trash and waste. He carried on walking into the alleyway while cats were scrambling from garbage bags as he went past.

He sat down on a small chair he found conveniently against a wall. Though the chair did see better says, it surprising supported his weight.

Kaneki rustled through his hoodie pocket, pulling out his beloved mask. He slipped it on smoothly and was surprised it still fit him so well. He noticed it was very clean and shiny, which was weird due to its age.

His mask perfectly matched his current outfit. It somehow reminded him of first fight against that stubborn investigator Amon.

Kaneki closed his eyes. The burning hunger in his stomach was starting to make him weak and tired. He hadn't been in such a dire situation since he just started being a ghoul.

Every second seemed like a minute and Kaneki's head soon found itself banging on the cracked wall in the dim alleyway.

 _I can't fall asleep… I'm too vulnerable here._

Even though the best thing for Kaneki to do is to get some shuteye until night, sleeping in such a shady alleyway isn't very smart. Finding a place to sleep would be to energy consuming and sleeping on a public bench is also a dumb idea because of the high chances that at least one dove would walk past him.

"Well, well, isn't it my lucky day?"

Kaneki immediately shot his head up and stiffened his body in anticipation of an attack. A figure was standing neatly on a loose power line that hung low into the alleyway. Just from the voice and shape of the body alone, Kaneki recognised the man.

"So you finally showed yourself huh?" Though it wasn't visible through his mask, Kaneki gave a small smile.

"So you did know what I was. On top of that you knew I was coming! My my, you have my praise little Ken." Although the man didn't sound scared but sounded confident, he couldn't help but feel confused why he was uneasy around the boy who was wearing that particular mask.

 _What's with that mask, why does it make me feel so uneasy?_

 _On top of that he's a ghoul, but why does he smell so human let alone delicious?_

 _Oh well, no matter. As long as he tastes nice then there's nothing to worry about._

Toshio jumped forward from the wire with the intent to land on top of Kaneki and crush him, but Kaneki moved out of the way before Toshio even bent his legs for the jump.

As Toshio landed, he heard the cracks of the damaged chair become nothing but chunks of broken rotten wood. He turned around to see Kaneki 10 metres away, putting his backpack down.

 _He's pretty good for a kid._ Toshio thought as he brought out his kagune. _Better get this finished quickly before people notice._

His Kagune erupted from his right shoulder blade. It slowly made its way in front of his chest and began snapping like crazy, making the deafening sound of two metals forcefully being smashed against each other.

Kaneki looked up to see a rather weirdly shaped koukaku kagune. It was as if the man had a brown crab claw snapping it's razor sharp blades against each other, in fact Kaneki was sure that's what he saw; a crab claw kagune.

 _Wow! That's actually pretty cool, how did he get a kagune like that?_

The man leapt towards Kaneki, dragging the heavy claw with him. Once he was a meter's range from Kaneki, he hauled his kagune forward and opened its pincers.

The movement was so slow that Kaneki could've sworn it was in slow motion. Kaneki jumped up, dodging the enemy's attack and putting him above the tall ghoul. As he readied himself to drop and skate on the slow ghoul across the floor, he saw a fast flash of bright blue shoot up from the man's upper back.

Kaneki's eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at. Before any more thoughts managed to form in his mind, his whole chest was slashed violently, allowing a gush of blood to escape his body.

Kaneki found his back hitting the cold hard floor with a loud thud, allowing more of the released blood to ooze on the concrete floor.

The ghoul skidded to a stop and turned around to face a wounded Kaneki.

"You underestimated me pretty boy."

"I guess I did…" Kaneki slowly sat up and stared at the ghoul that was standing 2 metres away from him. On his right side was a crab claw while on his left side was what seemed to be sharp blue feathers shaping a wing. "I've never met an ukaku and a koukaku ghoul before, especially one whose kagune seems to resemble animal body parts so much."

"I'll take that as a compliment." The ghoul slowly started to make his way to where Kaneki lay.

"All I was doing was waiting for a nice little human to come along but it seems like I was greeted something less pleasant don't you think?" Kaneki gripped his bleeding chest as it started to heal. "But all this fighting, healing and waiting has just made me even hungrier." He looked at the ghoul's black and red eyes with a sadistic grin. "Although I would much rather taste the sweetness of a fresh, ripe human, I guess you'll have to suffice. I'm just too hungry to wait you see. It can't be helped right?" Kaneki was practically laughing at the end of his sentence. He was so excited to finally find something to dig his teeth in.

"As if you could." The ghoul stared at Kaneki's visible eye that now had its kakugan blazing. "If it was so easy to catch you of guard with my fast ukaku, then it'll be just as easy to finish you off with both my kagun-

Before Toshio could finish his sentence, a sharp sensation of strong pain ripped through his abdomen while he felt himself being flung across the dim alleyway.

"It also seems like you've underestimated me." Kaneki voice was menacing as it echoed through the length of the small passage they were in.

Toshio slammed against a wall and soon slid on the hard ground, leaving a deep crater on the crusty brick wall where his body hit. He rolled onto his side, where he saw a pair of feet in black trainers stand 10 meters away from him.

 _Wait… what the fuck just happened?_

 _There's no way he just did that in the condition he was in 5 seconds ago!_

 _He should be on the ground crying and wailing in pain as I eat him._

 _Does he really heal that fast?!_

Toshio's thoughts were forcibly stopped as he heard echoing footsteps and saw the feet coming towards him. Shivers crawled down his spine as the sentence Kaneki had said not too long ago repeated in his mind.

 _'Although I would much rather taste the sweetness of a fresh, ripe human, I guess you'll have to suffice.'_

Toshio's heart raced with fear as the footsteps grew louder and louder. Both his kagune had grown limp and soon retracted back into his body.

Kaneki stopped in front of the body and kneeled down, meeting his hungry gaze with a fearfully terrified one. Wordlessly, he unzipped the mask's mouth revealing his similar grin with drool all over his chin.

"Y-you monster!" Was all Toshio could say with his shaking breath.

"Me? Monster? But you're the one who was planning on eating me weren't you? So it's only fair that I try and eat you." Kaneki finished his sentence and opened his mouth wider than he ever had before, resulting in a terrified yelp to escape from his prey's mouth.

As Kaneki indulged in the feeling of warm soft blood slowly fill his mouth, _(as well as the pained cries and pleas for help from his victim)_ , he heard a voice coming from the entrance of the alleyway.

"This way is shorter, let's go through here."

Kaneki immediately turned his head to face the entrance of the alleyway while he caught the faint sound of footsteps coming their way.

 _Shit! Who's coming?_

However, that distraction was all Toshio needed to escape from the terrifying monster that would surely eat him slowly, enjoying his pain as pleasure.

When Kaneki turned around, it was too late. Even though he knew that his speed was greater than the wounded ghoul's speed, chasing him would be stupid because he would surely make a scene out of it, causing people to notice.

Kaneki growled angrily, more spit and saliva shooting out of his mouth.

He was beginning to lose control, and he knew it. But the pleasure of getting something to eat was too good to pass.

He was truly a monster when it came to his food.

Kaneki, vision all warped with anger but mainly hunger, saw white blurs come to the corner of his vision.

Facing the weird blurs and trying his best to focus, he saw a small group of 3 investigators with their usual white trench coats in the distance, walking into the alleyway with silver briefcases in their hands.

 _Do my problems ever fucking go away?_

 _All I wanted was some food!_

 _Now they'll know that I'm still alive._

 _How much hell can one person get?_

"Hey are you alright?" One investigator asked as he caught sight of Kaneki mumbling to himself while on all fours.

"A mask...? W-wait that's a kakugan! It's a ghoul, get your quinques ready!" One of the investigators shouted as he saw the white haired teen raise his head, kagugan activated and growling intensely with blood mixed with drool dropping to ground.

 _You'll pay for this! You let my meal get away! I'll eat you instead!_

Kaneki was slowly edging to insanity, his hunger was blurring and distorting his vision.

"W-wait, that mask… rank 1 Kurumatani, that's the eyepatch mask!" One investigator slowly turned his head to his partner, but never taking his eyes off the ghoul and his crazed laughter.

"Impossible! You're imagining things, there's no way eyepatch is alive…" The rank 1 investigator called Kurumatani turned to look at partner whose eyes also shifted fearfully to meet each other's shivering gazes. "H-he died didn't he? Haise…"

"Well then who else would use that eyepatch mask while also having white hair coincidentally?" The 3rd, calmer investigator questioned, trying his best to mask his shock.

"Haise doesn't just have white hair! And he should be dead anyway…"

"Well looks like he isn't, and it also looks like he's not Haise Sasaki anymore but Ken Kaneki, SS rated Centipede so be careful. I don't have my phone with me, someone call for backup!"

When neither of the other two stunned investigators moved a muscle, he screamed, unleashing all his fear "Now!" His voice cracked under the deafening command prompting both of the investigators, currently scared shitless, to jump in surprise and start scrambling in their pockets for some sort of communicative device.

However, that shriek made the crazy giggles from the hungry ghoul stop. This also made the three freeze and stare at the crazed ghoul shaking on all fours.

"M- _m_ um _, s_ -s0 hung _ry_ _ **yy**_ **yyyyy** ** _yyyyyy_** **y** … M _aa_ aa _FO_ d _000_ DD! heE _aaHA_ aa **AAA** ** _AAAAAAA_** **AAA** ** _AA_** **AAA**!" Kaneki was literally jumping up and down while still crouched on all fours. His grin spread wide enough to be just one centimetre from touching his ears. Kaneki's voice was so distorted, it sounded exactly like he was underwater. " **A** aa _h_ _ **HH**_ **A** gH, _ym_ **Yu** ** _m_**! I- **I** c _AN_ a **W** _eaD_ y **Ta** ** _sT_** e y _0_ _ **u**_ _kUr_ **U** M ** _aT_** **a** w _i1Ii_ **i!** "

Nothing but the excitement of ripping through his feast filled his mind as he began to feel a tingle in his back. "F **o** ** _O_** _0_ _ **o**_ o **0** o0o0 _o00_ _ **O**_ **O** 0o0o _0_ _ **o**_ _0o0_ **oOo** 0o _0o_ _ **0o**_ **0** o0oD T ** _1m_** _E_! **!**! **!**! **!**!" At the end of his sentence, four HUGE centipedes practically erupted from his lower back, twisting, crawling, skittering in the cramped alleyway and each centipede now had a head which was equipped with two long antennae and two HUGE venomous fangs. The mouths were drooling with what looked like purplish green acidic venom while eating away at the walls, bins, bags everything!

It was truly a monstrous sight, one that no one could forget. Many things were different, _evolved_ from his previous kakuja; more centipedes; the heads with venom; his armour. Kaneki had purple scaled armour coating his four limbs, giving his fingers and toes sharp claw-like metal spikes and the tip. His whole armour had spikes, everything was so…. so _monstrous_.

A mask started to grow over the beast's already masked face. However, unlike his previous mask with the shape of a single fang, this one had two long pointed fangs. The mask covered his whole face, only leaving room for his mouth, two mismatched, crazed eyes and the one, demon-like eye in between the two.

Kaneki brought his clawed hands to his masked face, scratching and clawing in pain. " **Aa** a ** _W_** _W_ w **w** ** _wW_**!?$ ** _*%£_** $?"

" _I_ fe **E** 1 _o_ _ **A**_ **w$** _0M_ _ **3,**_ **H** ** _h_** ow **d** oo0 _0_ _ **00**_ **y0o** _oouu_ **u fee** e _eeee_ _ **ee**_ **el?** ** _!_**?!%*"

The investigators stared with their jaws dropped.

"O-o-hhhhh… GOD HELP US!" One investigator screamed at the top of his lungs followed by the other two as the overgrown centipedes start crawling towards them on the floor and on the walls, leaving holes where their talon-like legs walked.

As the investigators attempted to run and scramble to escape the hellish nightmare that's unravelling before them, Kaneki launched himself in front of them, faster then how lightning strikes. The investigators realize his sudden movement too late as a not so lucky investigator is snatched up in the air by the four centipedes twisting and entwining together, gnawing at his limbs while Kaneki slowly makes his way to his tortured victim.

"WAHHHH PLEEEEEEEASE! ANYTHING! I'LL DO ANY-WAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The poor man screams as his right arm is twisted snatched off by a squirming centipede.

The other two investigators cry silently and watch the _literal_ hell begin before them.

The endless screams that beg for help echo in the alleyway as Kaneki, accompanied by his four centipede buddies, tear the man apart.

…

…

…

Finally, after what felt like hours of tears, rips, chews and gulps, the man's face, heart and other insides were (deliciously) eaten alive.

No trace of life came from the mangled remains of his body.

Blood was splattered all over the alleyway from the painful shredding the ghoul had mercilessly done to him.

Silence now swept the alleyway, but was soon destroyed with the distant voices of worry from the entrance of the alleyway.

"What was all that screaming in the alley? Should we go help?"

"Idiot! Don't go in there, you'll get caught up in the fight! It's probably just a fight between gangs or something."

"R-right… let's go honey."

…

…

…

Now silence returned to blood stained alleyway. The centipedes were laying all over the thin walls, only twitching their antennae and flexing their blood soaked jaws that now had bits of flesh and bones hanging from it.

Kaneki, however, was still slowly licking and eating his victim's brain while murmuring something about you shouldn't be a picky eater.

"D-don't… make... a-a… sound... please. Or it'll notice us." one of the investigators whispered ever so slightly in a shaking voice to his absolutely petrified, soulless partner who couldn't reply due to his voice that had been clogged up through fear.

With their fate in the claws of that monster, both were silently praying and hoping to somehow survive this nightmare. Their quinque weapons were like toys compared to the beast before them; there was nothing they could do but wait out the torturous minutes in hope that the ghoul would be satisfied with one body; the body of their fallen comrade.

"Haise…" The other investigator finally found his voice although a bit quiet and squeaky.

"Shhhhhhhhhh be quiet. That's not Haise, that's a _monster_."

Kaneki licked the man's skull for the remains of his brain while wearing a bloodthirsty grin under his two masks. " _Y_ -y **uM** ** _M_** m _m_ _ **y**_ **y** Yy!" Kaneki breathed as he stepped over the completely demolished traces of what was once a human.

Kaneki held his mask in his purple, armoured hands, the tip of his claws lightly scratching the metal-like structure on his face.

 _I… feel so great!_

 _B-but… why do I feel like… I'm doing something wrong?_

 _Hehe, no matter!_

 _I'll just eat mor-_

"I can't wait to see the concert!" An _awfully_ familiar voice from the entrance of the alleyway caught Kaneki's ears. "I should have left earlier to get a good seat though…"

Kaneki froze.

But why?

Why did he start shivering once he heard that?

Why did his head feel like it was on fire?

All from that voice… that familiar voice that Kaneki remembers all too well.

Insane or not, crazed or not, dying or not, Kaneki would never forget that voice… that voice that shed light on his shadowed, lonely life.

 _…no way. Impossible._

…

…

…

N-no, I'm hallucinating. He's not here, there's no way he could be her-

"I guess should take this shortcut." As it came closer and closer, the voice rang in his consciousness harder and harder, opening Kaneki's eyes to see the bloodshed before him.

"N-no… I-I, what did I do?!" Upon realising his murderous, monstrous act, Kaneki sobbed. He sobbed harder and more painfully than he had ever done before as the four vermin that came out of his back, slowly made their way back in. He fell on his hands and knees as his fanged mask and purple, scaled armour cracked and dissolved, allowing him to angrily rip off the leather mask concealing his sweaty face.

"Ugh… it happened again. W-whhhy? I TOLD MYSELF I COULD CONRTOL IT! WHAT THE FUCK MADE ME THINK THAT?! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!" Kaneki screamed and shouted in pain and sorrow, unaware of the shocked figure that stood just a few feet away from him.

"K-kane… ki?" The voice whispered shivering, not from fear but from utter shock. "Th-that you man?"

Kaneki slowly eased his head up as he realized who was standing before him.

The other two investigators were no longer there as they took advantage of Kaneki's distracted state to escape the same fate as their not so fortunate partner; eaten alive.

Kaneki's mouth, clothes and hair was coated in blood and as he gazed at the figure before him; blond hair with dark roots, brightly coloured clothes giving that sunshine look and big, brown (shocked) eyes starting right at him.

"H-Hide…" Was all Kaneki could squeak before he felt all the energy being sucked out of him.

He wanted nothing but to die right at that very moment. Hide, his innocent friend, had literally just walked up on him when he and his four pets were eating a man alive. Embarrassment; _shame_.

He doesn't deserve to live, not after that! He doesn't want to drag Hide into his mess, Hide deserves better than this bloodthirsty beast, _way better._

Kaneki's hands began to give way as his head fell forward to meet the blood stained concrete below. Closing his eyes, he waited for the impact to come but it never did.

Forcing open one eye, Kaneki saw a worried face splattered all over his best friend's face.

Worried? Worried? _Worried?!_

How could he _possibly_ be worried?

This ghoul just literally ate a whole man alive in record time and he's _worried_?

Hide embraced Kaneki into a hug, despite all the blood on the ghoul, despite what the hell just happened.

 _How could he be so relaxed?_

 _Hide… why?_

 _I'm a monster, you don't deserve me._

…

…

…

 _Amazing. Purely amazing._

 _How could someone be so fearless? How could someone be so amazing?_

 _… Meanwhile I'm a beast; a ghoul._

 _I shouldn't have someone like him… he shouldn't have someone like me-_

"I know you didn't mean it. I know you didn't want any of this, so don't cry Kaneki."

Kaneki's eyes widened as he noticed the waterfalls flowing down his cheeks.

"Hide… Kill me…" Kaneki choked on the last two words painfully before faintly seeing Hide's mouth move but no words come out. Or maybe there were words coming out, who knows? Kaneki was too tired to use his ears or his strength as he fell numb in Hide's warm arms, slowly closing his eyes to be consumed by a deep slumber.

* * *

 **I'm sorry if this chapter was rushed, I felt like it would be best if it was all in one chapter. But anyway, thanks for the reviews that you all are giving me!**


	8. Chapter 8: Thank you

**Hi guys! I like to give a HUGE thanks to Kaiser Greedy for taking the time to give me a really helpful review to help improve my work! All things have been taken into consideration and your review really helped out, thanks!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Thank you**

 _(1st ward at CCG headquarters: 5:36)_

The entire room was silent.

Only the quiet sounds of people shuffling in their seats was audiable.

It had been 5 minutes since the last of the investigators took their sea at the meeting, and they were now waiting for the bureau director to give his speech.

Finally, Matsuri Washuu stood in front of the audience of around a hundred CCG investigators.

He fixed his papers on his desk before begging his speech. "I'm sure a few of you already know why meeting has taken place. But for those of you who don't, it is about the return of the SS rated ghoul: Centipede."

The whole room burst into shocks, gasps, and murmurs of _No way's_. Everyone was in complete awe, thinking of the rank 1 investigator Haise Sasaki defect the CCG and join the ghouls side.

 _"We shouldn't have even trusted him."_

 _"He was rotten from the start."_

 _"How was a ghoul even allowed to become an investigator to begin with?"_

After the chatting quietened down, Matsuri cleared his throat to silence the room. "He was sighted in the 14th ward this morning in an alleyway by 3 CCG investigators. They engaged combat against the ghoul but weren't successful, and one investigator brutally lost his life."

Almost everyone in the room gasped, some found themselves drowning in fear of the ex-investigator, while others burned with rage and anger at the turncoat.

Before the room got too loud and emotional, the Washuu leader finished his speech. "We have increased the rating on Centipede from SS to SS+. It is highly advisable to have great caution in an encounter and never go into battle against this traitor alone without backup, as centipede's rinkaku kakuja has unimaginable power. We don't yet know the capabilities of his kakuja, but we do know it's still incomplete which typically makes him lose control. I'm sure you all know the shocking identity of centipede; as a former investigator and as a dangerous threat to humanity, we must eliminate this renegade and bring him to justice."

Matsuri stepped down from the podium and the investigators clapped, even though they were still in great awe. Slowly, the investigators began to leave, chattering away in disbelief about the news that just hit them.

One particular rank 3 investigator however, couldn't help but smile a toothy grin. "I'm sure they're going to be so excited." The voice was elevated, which caused a few confused eyes to come her way. "I need to tell them right away!"

She hoped and skipped out of the crowded room, humming a cheery song on the way out. After she made her way back to her squad's empty office, she got her phone out and made a quick phone call before anyone else gets back.

It didn't take very long before the other end picked up, and the investigator immediately greeted her friend. "Heyyyyyy~~~!"

"Oh hey, why are you calling me in the middle of work, something wrong?" A lot of background noise could be heard from the other end of the phone call; soft conversations and the sound of a running tap.

"Quite the opposite actually, I have some amazing news! You won't believe it!"

"You got promoted?"

"Even better!"

"I'm all ears missy."

"Well~~~… your Mr Eyepatch is back!"

* * *

Drowsy eyelids reluctantly heaved open, and the blurry vision finally sharpening to pick up its surroundings. A creamy coloured ceiling obstructed the half-ghoul's vision, so he tried to sit himself up on the rather comfy bed.

…

…

…

 _What?_

 _Why can't I move?_

Kaneki, utterly confused, put more effort in and tried once more to lift his back to sit up.

… _FUCK!_

An _extremely_ sharp pain hammered in the ghoul's back, causing him to force his spine into an arch as a reaction to the pain.

Not a very smart decision to say the least. The pain only multiplied, and not twice or three times… hundreds of times.

" _AAaAaAaaAhhHhH_!" Kaneki screamed louder than his tired vocal chords could manage, causing his throat to crack and him to stupidly choke on his own spit.

Finally after countless rounds of very deep inhales and exhales, Kaneki managed to slowly, _slowly_ , shape his spine into a straight line to continue resting on the (actually _very_ comfy) bed.

Staring at the ceiling, Kaneki tried to figure out what the fuck just happened. First Kaneki assumed he was restrained, which would explain why it was so hard to move, but that wasn't the case. Kaneki was able to freely twist his wrists and slowly move his feet.

Maybe someone used RC suppressants on him?

Kaneki sniffed the air but not a whiff of the drug's heavy odour touched his nose. But even so, why did he almost die from the pain that just erupted in his back when he harmlessly tried to just sit up?

More confusion poured into Kaneki as he let out a heavy sigh. A massive headache rang through his head as he wanted nothing more than to rest. He stared at the ceiling and listened to the birds sing. The sweet sound filled his ears with small tweets, long chirps and… soft, distant thuds.

Yes, beautiful indeed.

…

…

…

 _Wait what?_

 _Birds don't make thudding sounds._

The thuds grew louder and louder until Kaneki recognised them as footsteps.

 _W-who's coming?! Oh shit, I'm defenceless!_

Kaneki stared hopelessly at the ceiling, unable to make any drastic movements in his fatigued, exhausted body.

Finally, the person entered the room in a rush. "Kaneki?! Are you alright? I heard you screaming what happened?!"

 _That voice…!_

Kaneki felt tears well up in his eyes as the figure of his one and only best friend slowly started to make his way towards Kaneki.

Kaneki quickly shuffled to hide his face between the soft pillow and the warm blanket, ignoring the vigorous pain that sliced through his neck as a response to the sudden movement.

Something wet touched his cheeks, and soon he realised he was in silent, sorrowful sobs.

"H-hey, you alright?"

Silence.

"It's me, Hide. I'm your best friend, remember?"

Silence.

Hide slowly walked over and sat near Kaneki's feet at the edge of the bed.

"Hey, it's not like you to cry Kaneki." Hide smiled and slowly, ever so gently as not to startle the half-ghoul, stroked his shin.

Kaneki's sobs became more audible when he realized the blond recognised his silent cries, though muffled by the blanket covering his shivering mouth. "I-I-I'm so s-sorry." Kaneki barely managed to form the sentence between his uneven, shaking breaths.

"Huh? Sorry for what? Making me miss that concert?" Hide was genuinely confused as to why the white-haired ghoul was apologising.

Kaneki slowly pulled down his blanket to reveal his tear soaked face and widened his eyes. "H-Hide…" Kaneki broke into another heavy sob as the human stop stroking his leg to edge closer to the other side of the bed.

Kaneki glanced at the big brown eyes that rested on him, only to jerk his eyes away and squeeze them shut while slowly pull the covers over his face once again.

It stayed that way for a comfortable minute before Hide broke the silence. "Kaneki, please stop blaming yourself."

Kaneki opened his eyes under the blanket's warmth at the familiar sentence whispered by the human; he had almost fallen asleep in the inviting silence that had just been broken by his best friend.

"I'm sure you've heard that sentence countless times by countless people Kaneki, and it's for a reason. You shouldn't be blaming yourself man! What have you done that made you guilty? I mean, other than spilling soda on my game console and nearly pushing that girl from class 7 down the stairs. Jokes aside, you didn't want to be turned into a ghoul, you didn't want to eat other people, you didn't want to be tortured until that beautiful black hair of yours turned silky white, you asked for none of that. It must have been so bloody hard to go through all of it, especially if you were just a bony little book worm that struggled to lift ten pounds. So take a break, and stop worrying, fighting and stressing yourself."

"It is all my fault Hide. Because of me, there is no Anteiku anymore. Because of me, Irimi-san, Koma-san and Yoshimura-san are all gone…" Kaneki chocked on the last three words as if they were venom. "I-I couldn't protect them…"

Hide closed his eyes and spoke in a soft, smooth voice. "Kaneki, it's not your fault. I know you've heard that sentence countless times too and you probably haven't put much thoguht to it but there's more to that sentence than you think. I mean, it's quite frank but it's true. It's. Not. Your. Fault. No matter how much you think it is, it is. You just need to find the room in your heart to accept it and then you will fully understand its meaning." As Hide opened his eyes, he found a pair of sorrowful, grey eyes resting on him. He reached his hand and ever so gently placed it on the sniffling ghoul's shoulder. "Some things in life are meant to be, cruel or not they must take place whether you like it or not. Only a fragment of those 'some things' are your fault while the vast majority aren't, not the other way around Kaneki. If something bad happens to you, even if it is your fault, you _must_ accept it and move on in life. Isn't that what they would've wanted? Isn't that why they made that sacrifice? Learn from your mistakes, repeat what you've experienced to be good in life and don't repeat what you've experienced to be bad. I know it sounds simple but it's easier said than done. I'm not that good with metaphors and persuasive speaking but surely a book worm like you should understand where I'm trying to get at."

When Hide saw that Kaneki had showed some understanding in his clouded grey eyes, he decided to give the half-ghoul the necessary nudge to fully grasp his understanding. "Look at yourself Kaneki, what do you see? Something beautiful? Something ugly? It doesn't matter! Because whether you're beautiful or ugly doesn't matter to a person whose friends with you for most of their life. Come on, you should know better! How could I think that you're a monster just because you got mixed up in some crazy doctor's experiment? I'm sure I already told you this back in the sewers." Hide flashed Kaneki the very same smirk that he had used millions of times in the years before. His beaming eyes staring at the half-ghoul, not showing the smallest trace of fear, hatred or disgust, but showing _pure_ friendship.

Kaneki found the sight so mesmerising and beautiful, he couldn't help but lift the tips of his lips too, forming an infinitely grateful smile that only made Hide's grow wider.

"Hide, you really are amazing. Let me tell you this now, there is no one in the word like you that has the mysterious ability to make someone smile even when their life is pretty much torn apart, ghoul or not." Kaneki's smile grew wider ever so slightly, and his eyes gleamed at the unbeatably loyal and understanding friend that just poured all his heart and soul into helping his useless ass. "You know, sometimes I can't help but feel guilty that someone as worthless as me somehow got to be friends with someone as amazing as you."

"Took ya long enough! We've been together for how long as you just realise the great magnitude of my awesomeness?" Hide crossed his arms, shook his head and tutted at Kaneki's incompetence.

Kaneki's smile grew even wider until it became an uncontrollable laugh. Hide joined in, and they laughed together for the first time in years.

Beautiful, shimmering grey eyes met big, bold brown ones as Kaneki couldn't help but wonder how someone so amazing could possibly exist.

 _Oh God I missed him so much._

A tear escaped his eye from the heavy yearn to see the blond his strained heart had been concealing all this time. He hadn't realized how strong it really was until he laid eyes of his forgiving friend.

"Thank you, Hide."

"You better be! It was really hard to find all those smart words nerdy people use in speeches you know!"

 _Thank you for always being there, Hide._

 _Thank you for helping me realize my mistakes, Hide._

 _Thank you for being yourself even after all this time, Hide._

"Yeah you're right, it's not like you to be using quotes and actually say smart things that make sense." Kaneki smirked, and Hide plastered a serious face and nodded.

"I'm tellin' ya!…"

If the blond said anymore, Kaneki didn't hear it. He was too overwhelmed by the happiness Hide so effortlessly delivered. To be accepted by someone you care so deeply for despite what you are truly feels… _amazing._

* * *

 **Sorry if this chapter feels rushed. I tried my best to make the characters seem as natural as possible.**


	9. Chapter 9: New life

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry I took so long to upload! I'm such a big procrastinator and I ended up writing this chapter over a longer period of time. I'm sorry . but I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: New life.**

 _(September 1st, 17:08)_

Kaneki lay in the bed, staring at the cream coloured ceiling. Usually for him, his mind would be boggling with the events that transpired with Hide last week, but his brain was way too tired.

Kaneki hadn't been able to move his body much, fatigue just rained over him as his (well built) muscles ached from being sore since his little kakuja rampage in the alleyway, though it did get considerably better. He was able to sit up, stand, and walk around but not for long before his legs ached.

Despite his current situation, Kaneki couldn't be happier. His best friend accepted him! He didn't think of him as a monster nor did he change his attitude to him. The relief still hasn't left Kaneki, giving him the rare chance of smiling.

Hide had been taking care of the half-ghoul like a mother would with her child; with _care_. Hide brought Kaneki several cups of coffee each day, along with piles of books to satisfy the book worm's thirst to read. He even gave Kaneki a shower when he first got here unconscious, dressed him in spare clothes, and practically gave the half-ghoul his bedroom until he makes a full recovery.

The sound of footsteps broke him from his daydream as he sat up stared at the entrance to the room, expecting Hide to pop up with his face splitting grin.

Just as Kaneki thought, his best friend entered the room, headphones around his neck while holing a warm cup of coffee in one and a book in the other, while sure enough giving a smile that radiated just as much heat as the coffee in his hands. His mere presence alone lit up the room exactly like how the Sun would do in the morning. Honestly, those two friends and their personalities were like the Sun and the Moon in comparison. But for some reason, they fit together perfectly like adjacent pieces in a puzzle.

"Hey! Brought ya some coffee and something to read. I know you need your daily dose of books." Hide cheerfully winked before walking over to his occupied bed and placing the two objects on the nightstand.

"Thank Hide, you're the best." Kaneki smiled at his sunshine, the person who shines brighter than the Sun itself in his grey eyes.

"Of course I am, I'm the ultimate Hide." Hide turned his big brown eyes to Kaneki, never losing his smile. "Oh yeah! I have some great news! You're gonna be so amazed!"

"Yeah? What's that?" Kaneki asked while blowing on the steaming coffee that he carefully took from the nightstand.

"Touka-chan wants to see you!"

The moment those five words entered Kaneki's ear, all the time froze around him.

 _?!_

 _She's alright!_

 _Oh thank God, I thought I'll never see her again._

Kaneki's mind flooded with possibilities, consequences and feelings as Hide's sentence constantly repeated itself, echoing in the corners of his mind.

"Kaneki! You're spilling the coffee." Hide dragged Kaneki out of his thoughts and back into the, for once, exciting reality that is seeing Touka.

Kaneki paid no mind to the fresh 1st degree burns on his leg and instead decided to express his excitement. "REALLY?! She's okay? When is she coming Hide? EXPLAIN!"

Hide took a step back from the bursting half-ghoul and put his hands forward. "Woah calm down, calm down! She got a call from Yoriko-san saying that 'you're back in town'. She then frantically called me sharing the news to which I explained how you're in my apartment and how I met you, though she did have a tough time calling me since my phone was on silent and I haven't used it this past week. I wonder why she didn't just come to my apartment… maybe she doesn't know where I live. Who knows." Hide shrugged and a sigh of relief escaped Kaneki's mouth while he couldn't stop shivering from excitement at meeting the purple-haired ghoul.

"She was so relieved to know that you were okay and that I'm taking care of you. I asked her if she wants to see you but she said not until you've recovered. It sounded to me like someone's got feelings for you 'neki!" Hide nudged Kaneki's shoulder making his white-haired friend roll his eyes and take a sip from his coffee. "Speaking of recovery, you haven't been recovering well after using your kakuja have you?" Hide's tone hinted a bit of seriousness (for once), making the half-ghoul stiffen a bit at the question.

He wasn't ready for the sudden change in topic and didn't know how to respond.

"N-no, I guess I haven't." Kaneki averted eyes as he rubbed the hot wet patch of spilled coffee on his leg before setting the coffee back on the night stand and picking up the book called _'The Setting Sun'_.

As the opened the book, he noticed Hide giving him a thoughtful look before speaking up. "I think I know what might help you recover, and frankly, I think you also know what." Hide gave a faint smile as Kaneki looked up from the book while his heart raced.

"U-um, Hide y-you can't."

"And why's that?"

"Because there's no way for you to… get any." Kaneki tried his best to phrase that sentence carefully, not wanting to say any particular key words.

"Of course I can, I can get some at :re."

"What?"

"You know… ask :re for help."

"Who's :re?"

Hide face palmed, realizing that his white-haired friend didn't know about the café. "It's Yomo-san and Touka-chan's café."

"O-oh wow! They run a café?" _So he knows about Touka and Yomo being ghouls huh?_

"Yep, and I work part time there!" Hide gave a wink and a bright smile while Kaneki eyes widened in shock.

"That's great Hide! Good for you." Kaneki smiled at his friend who widened his own.

Hide gently pushed his best friend's head back into the pillow and took his phone out from his pocket. "So rest here 'neki, I'm gonna call Touka-chan okay."

"Yeah."

 _At least I get to see her._ Kaneki thought with a smile as Hide left the room to make the phone call.

* * *

Kaneki unburied his head from the book he was reading when he heard a door bell.

"That should be her!" Hide shouted from the living room to which Kaneki tensed up and nervousness hit him. Though he was feeling excited, he couldn't deny that he was nervous as well.

 _What do I say?_

 _Will she hate me?_

The sound of an opening door, distant greetings and footsteps coming his way made a sweat drop fall from Kaneki's forehead.

 _Calm down._

 _Calm down._

 _Calm down._

Kaneki slowly inhaled and exhaled in an attempt to steady his racing heart. He was so bloody nervous! With the increasingly loud footsteps coming his way, he heard his best friend speak. "He's in here."

Hide then entered the room followed by a blue haired, blue eyed, beautiful woman with a warm smile glazing her lips.

"Kaneki!" Touka happily called, cheerfully intensifying her smile.

"T-Touka!" Kaneki stuttered in shock and nervousness as he shakily sat up on the bed, resting his book on the nightstand.

 _Shit, why am I so nervous?!_

Touka dropped the bag she was holding and sped walked to the bed to give Kaneki a tight hug, burying her face in his chest making the latter's eyes widen in shock. "I missed you so much… Bakaneki." Touka wheezed, clearly fighting back tears.

Kaneki returned the hug and gently rested his head in her soft, wavy hair while fighting tears of his own. "I missed you too. I'm so sorry, I promise I'll never leave again. Never."

Hide gave his own smile before turning to leave the room. "I'll give you two some time to catch up."

Kaneki silently thanked Hide before closing his eyes to embrace the tender moment. The two stayed that way for another ten seconds, both enjoying each other's close company, before Touka pulled away to get some air. "You know, you've packed on a ton of muscles since you left."

Kaneki blushed fiercely, which Touka didn't fail to pick up. "Haha, but I guess you still have that soft, gentle side since small complements like that still make you as red as a tomato."

 _Only my friends make me smile Touka, no one else could possibly bring up any emotion in this broken mind._

 _And although I still have my good side, I also have my bad. Anyone who touches my friends would never see the end of it._

"Yep, I'm still dumb and stupid for letting myself get red at a pretty girl's praise."

They both smiled at each other, not caring much for the long silence that overtook them before Touka got up and walked to the entrance of the room to retrieve the bag she carelessly dropped. Kaneki's detective nose went off and knew just what the sweet smell coming from the bag was.

"I brought you some food, it'll help you recover." Touka walked back to the bed, sat on the edge, and took out a package from the bag to hand to the recovering half-ghoul.

"Thanks." Kaneki smiled with light pink tinted cheeks as he took the package from her. As he unwrapped it, a big chunk of meat was revealed. He picked it up in his hands only to instantly be brought to the realms of hunger. His eyes became mismatched in colour, one had a dull grey iris and white sclera while the other with a pitch black sclera and a blood red iris that had red cracks webbing out to his cheekbone and temple, though both stared at the juicy, tender meat with desperate hunger. Despite his starved state, he had enough restraint to completely salivate all over his food only to greedily bite, tear, and rip the flesh to chomp and swallow like there was no tomorrow. After all, that is what he would do if Touka wasn't there.

Slowly, Kaneki took a big bite out of the soft flesh and humanely chewed enough to swallow. He repeated the process until all that was left in his hands was dripping blood. Eager for more, the feeding ghoul licked the blood off his fingers and lips.

With a paper towel Touka passed him, Kaneki finished wiping his lips and dark nailed fingers when he finally noticed and stared at something he thought had lost long ago. His darkened nails which were a result of blood being trapped under the bedding of the nail.

 _And to think they would go back to that disgusting colour after having my hands decapitated by those two Aogiri freaks._

 _And I thought I'll never see them this colour ever again when I joined the stupid CCG…_

Remembering just how remarkably long the white-haired half ghoul can stay locked in his thoughts, Touka decided to break the silence. "Don't worry about that." She took Kaneki's hands into her own and smiled. "I know what you're thinking. Something stupid like 'this just proves that I'm a monster' or 'now she'll hate me'."

"I-"

"Don't think like that Kaneki. Please? Don't go back to those days when you left because you thought a 'monster' like you wasn't needed and should just 'protect' his friends."

Kaneki looked down, guilt washing over his face. Realizing this, Touka tilted her head so she could still have eye contact with her friend. "Kaneki think about it, you're smart so it shouldn't be hard to realize the stupid mistake that you're repeating. Do you really think that after all the time that has passed, I'll leave you behind thinking that you're a monster because of something so trivial? Even if you were to go berserk, slaughter a loving family of four to have a full on buffet, and almost kill me when I try to help you, I'll still care about you just as much as I did the day before let alone me hating you just because your nails turned black. _Laughable_."

Kaneki hesitated.

He brought his head back up, making the 19 year old girl do the same. "Y… You're right Touka. I'm such an idiot. And to think I made a promise to myself that I won't make the same mistake again only to start thinking the complete opposite thing and start the process all over again."

They both smiled, happy that they both agree in the matter.

"Thanks, Touka. Again, I'm sorry. I-If I'm going to be perfectly honest, I think the reason I'm acting that way is because I'm _still_ self-conscious about being half-ghoul… even after all this time."

Touka's face darkened, and Kaneki swore he saw a hint of anger in her face. "Kaneki, I understand. But I also think it's because of the trauma that sick _motherfucker_ made you go through."

The half-ghoul's eyes widened in shock.

"I know that this is not a very easy topic for you to talk about Kaneki, I understand that. But what I'm trying to say is that no one should have experienced It. Ghoul or human, kind or evil, sinful or clean. I also want _you_ to understand that experiencing something like that is not easy to overcome, and most people probably would never even recover from it, mentally and physically. So don't strain yourself Kaneki. Let :re help you and give you the life you deserve."

For what felt like the tenth time, a long silence filled the air accompanied by heavy tension.

…

Kaneki scoffed playfully. "What's with all the lectures today? First Hide and now you? I thought I already stopped going to college."

A huge, wide, bright smile pierced Touka's face. She returned the playful act by nudging Kaneki on the shoulder. "That's 'cuz you need it, blockhead."

"Ow, jeez." Kaneki rubbed his shoulder while returning the smile at the ghoul.

After smiling at each other some more, Touka got up and lifted the empty blood-stained package and stuffed it in the bag that it came with, making a mental note to dispose of it properly later.

"I remember when you could barely look at the meat without throwing up in disgust. You really did change over the years, though I guess this change might be for the better since there won't be any more trouble concerning your meals now huh?" She gave a small chuckle, to which Kaneki replied with one of his own.

"Yeah, and thanks to that, I didn't really give you any trouble on having to force feed me did I?"

Touka's grin grew even wider. "So how are you feeling?" She asked, changing the subject.

"What?"

"I mean your condition, is it any better?"

"Oh, yeah it is, thanks. I can feel that my body is pretty much back to normal thanks to you. Though my strength isn't at it's best yet."

"Looks like that overly powerful kakuja of yours comes with a heavy price huh?"

"Seems so."

The conversation seemed to have lost its energy to keep going and the two struggled to find any suitable questions or sentences to start another one, as the silence that hung between them was unbearably awkward.

"I think you should stay in bed, and when you're 100%, and only then, will we decide what you're gonna do."

"I want to finish college at Kamii while working part-time at :re, just like I used to." Kaneki said suddenly, as if he anticipated the blue haired girl was going to say what she said.

"Really? Is that your decision Kaneki?"

"Yes."

Touka's lips formed a warm smile, happy and grateful with what Kaneki just said. "Well, we'll be more than happy to have you back Kaneki."

"Thank you Touka."

"Sure. I'll be looking forward to seeing you at work and at Kamii."

"Thank- wait what?! You go to Kamii now?!" Kaneki was shocked that the former high schooler Touka Kirishima got a place at the very university that he went to, Kamii.

"Yep, that's right. But it did take a lot of hard work to get there you know. Kamii definitely lives up to its standards."

"Wow…" The half-ghoul replied, dazed. "But that's great Touka. I'm happy for you."

"Hide goes too you know."

"Wha- seriously?!" Kaneki abruptly turned his head to face Touka and harshly hit his head on the headstand. He plastered a dumbfounded face before squeezing his face when the pain hit him.

Touka simply burst out laughing at the shocked reaction of the 20 year old half-ghoul. "Idiot!"

"What's so funny?"

"Isn't it obvious? You keep on getting suprised, and your reaction was priceless!" Touka weezed between giggles, unable to contain her laughter.

"W-well I guess I should have known Hide was still going to college huh?" Kaneki said sheepishly while scratching his chin as his face went redder by the second.

Finally having control over her laughter, Touka stood up from the edge of the bed, picked up the bag and walked to the door, stopping halfway to turn her head and smile at Kaneki. "Well, as much as I'd love to stay and talk, I've got to help Yomo-san at the café. But once you feel better, give me a call and we'll arrange a meeting for you to talk and arrange things at the café. You have my number right?"

"No, sorry."

"Ok, you can get it from Hide."

"Alright."

"Well, see ya Kaneki."

"Bye."

Touka turned around and waved as she left the room, leaving Kaneki to ponder on with his thoughts. He looked at the nightstand and reached for the book, deciding to apologize to Hide for letting his coffee get cold.

As Kaneki read the book a deep smile reached his lips, not from the contents of the story but from the feelings welling up inside him. Hide, Touka and Yomo. It had been so long since he saw them and he couldn't help but feel relieved that they're safe.

 _Thank you everyone, for allowing me to have a second chance to live._

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I know Kaneki doesn't get black nails again when he regains his memories but I thought that he should in this AU to represent just how hard and fierce the battle again Tatara and Noro was.**

Also, I got a really good question from Vi-Violence and I thought I should answer it for you guys as it may clear some clouds.  
 **Question:** _"What I want to know is why he didn't make a B-line for :re."  
_ **Answer:** _It's because he doesn't know that it exists. The whole reason Haise Sasaki went to :RE in the original series is because he was with Shirazu and Mutsuki and together they decided to go to :RE because Haise's 'Nose kagune was whispering to him that the shop has good coffee' (lol). So in short, Haise never went to :RE because he never really had friends so he never made that walk past :RE with Mutsuki and Shirazu._

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review because the support is what makes me continue this story since I know people are enjoying it and find it interesting. :3**


	10. Chapter 10: New life II

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews that have been supporting my story. I really enjoy reading them and they encourage me to hurry up and get the next chapter done on time lol. But, since I uploaded later than usual last time, I thought I'll upload this chapter early.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTICE: Since school is starting soon, I decided to make a schedule when I upload and when I study. Uploading would now be every week in the weekends (so I could have time to study). Thank you.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: New life II**

 _(September 3rd, 7:32. 9 days since Kaneki's kakuja rampage)_

"Hide…" Kaneki gently shook a drooling, snoring Hide on the couch.

 _This lazy ass, he sets an alarm on his phone but leaves it in his room so it wakes me up not him._

 _It was even stuffed in his underwear drawer._

"Come on Hide… we're going to be late. We should be in the 20th ward now!" … Fed up, Kaneki decided to knock the sleep talking boy off the couch. "HIDE!"

"H-huh?! Kaneki what is it? It's rude to wake someone up from their beauty sleep you know." Hide rubbed his eyes to try and clear his vision and get the sleep out of his eyes. "Woah! You look so tired, what happe-"

"THIS happened!" Kaneki shoved the phone in its owner's face, causing him to mouth an 'ow!' "This stupid thing kept me up all night. At least every 10 minutes you get a message or notification or whatever! And just when I drift into sleep, your Barbie alarm goes off."

Hide blushed a deep, _deep_ red while Kaneki raised a twitching white eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"O-oh, I think Touka put the Barbie ringtone on as a prank…h-haha."

"N-no, I don't care about that. You can have all the girly ringtones if you want. Why did you get so many notifications and why did leave your phone in your underwear drawer?" Kaneki, less annoyed but more interested helped his embarrassed friend up from the floor.

"Oooooh, so that's where I left it!"

Kaneki's eyebrow ticked in annoyance again.

"Sorry, I accidently left it there went I went to get a fresh pair of underwear." Hide scratched the back of his head and relaxed when Kaneki's face lost some of its deadly looks.

"Oh. So what's with all the notifications?"

"That's probably my classmate Mimi. We're doing a project together and I haven't really been able to attend so she's been sending me the updates and how the project's going. If so many messages are sent at once, then for some reason it spreads them out and sends one every so often." Hide grinned one of his many wondrous smiles.

 _When is he ever not smiling…_

Kaneki found himself staring at Hide and his bright smile, examining every pixel of his being and noting the difference in features from when he last saw the blond. He did grow out his hair but it stayed the same length since meeting him in the sewers. Kaneki frowned noticing that that was the only major noticeable difference in his best friend other than growing a centimetre or two in height.

"Helloooo~? Earth to Kaneki!" Kaneki broke from his daydream from the voice of his best friend and a hand waving in front of his face. "Am I really that good looking that you end up staring at my face even when I just woke up?" The blond sarcastically asked while he put on a concerned face.

Kaneki snorted. "You keep telling yourself that Hide."

They both laughed as old, cherished memories came flooding back to both their minds.

* * *

The café was silent, only the sound of quiet breathing was audible to the two ghoul occupying the indoor counter.

Touka sighed and sat on the nearest table. "They sure are late. If they don't come soon then we'll have to start work without them."

"Give then a little more time Touka." Yomo replied, keeping on his signature poker face. "Maybe they'll show up in the next five minutes.

"Yeah but what's taking them so lo-"

The all too familiar bell rang, signalling a costumer.

"Sorry we're late."

"S-sorry, we-we're l-ate!"

The two best friends apologised, the half-ghoul scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile while the blond's hands rested on his knees, gasping for breath from the 30mph run the two just made. Kaneki ended up giving the blond a piggy back ride for most of the journey.

"Hey." Touka greeted as she slid off the table. She eyed the smiling half-ghoul and the human gasping for air. "I think I can probably guess what happened." She remarked with a smile as she made her way to the 'Staff only' door with Yomo following behind her.

"Anyway, we better hurry up and start the meeting because you two are 7 minutes late, and that's opening the café 7 minutes later which is about 2200 yen gone." Yomo deadpanned while he stared at the two.

Hide began to sweat more than he already was. _I-Is he serious?_

Kaneki chuckled at the man who soon gave a smile to show he was joking.

Hide exhaled and relaxed his body at the smile, only to have it tense up again. _W-wait! Yomo-san made a joke?!_

* * *

The four were in the break room. They sat on couches around a large coffee table. Kaneki sat next to Hide while Touka and Yomo sat across them on another couch.

The four cups of coffee were steaming on the coffee table while their owners stared down at their reflections. The story that Kaneki told to fill the gap in what happened when he was Haise Sasaki really hit them hard. Touka especially because she thought Kaneki was having a nice human life as Haise Sasaki.

"I'm sorry Kaneki." Kaneki looked up to see Touka staring at the coffee cup in her hands, face shrouded in guilt.

"Sorry for what? It's not like you're the one who acted like I'm just a pile of dirt, it was the CCG. Don't blame yourself Touka, because it really isn't your fault." Kaneki took a large gulp out of his coffee and noted how similar the taste is to Yoshimura's coffee.

"We knew that you were with the CCG and we left you there. We thought you were enjoying your life as a… _human_." Touka looked up from her coffee, her furrowed eyebrows now showed a hint of anger. "Who would've fucking known that they would treat you less than they would treat the ghouls stuck in Cochlea's hellhole."

"You said it yourself Touka, who would've known. I'm not sad or angry at any of you, I'm really grateful. Thank you so much for wanting the best for me." Kaneki was slightly shocked that they knew all about Haise Sasaki. "You all left me in the CCG because you wanted me to have the chance at living as a human once again. I'm grateful for the thought alone. There's no way that any of you would've known how messed up the CCG really is to make me their lapdog haha."

Looking down to his half-drunken coffee, Kaneki saw his saddened expression.

 _Wait, am I crying?_

In his reflection, he noticed small droplets of tears welling up at the corners of his eyes and furiously blinked in an attempt to get rid of them.

"Yoriko joined the CCG less than 2 weeks ago to give us updates on you and their plans. We were really shocked when she said that you were in the list of the people who died during the war." Hide added, hopeful that it would make both Kaneki and Touka feel better.

Kaneki looked at Hide, surprised.

"She desperately tried to find information on your last sightings or anything related to your place in the war, but the information was either classified or useless." Yomo continued Hide's sentence with a solumn expression. "We wanted to search the 13th ward but the CCG were still cleaning up after the war, so we decided to ask some ghouls that used to live in the 13th ward if they knew anything even though there was a slim chance of us actually get some information, but we weren't planning to give up on you, Ken."

Kaneki eyes were wide, filled with shock. It struck him.

They still loved him even after he left them.

They still loved him even after he forgot about them.

They still loved him even after he joined the CCG and became the very thing that kills their kind.

 _But, why?_

 _…Why?_

 _Why would they go so far after all this… after all this time? Do they not see me as a burden, as traitor or am I missing something here?_

Tears twinkled at the edges of Kaneki's eyes. The eyes that have just the smallest remains of emotion after seeing pain for so long.

* * *

Flashback:

 _"Marimo-san, I verified all the documents you sent me." A young man with white hair and small but noticeable black roots put a huge pile of paperwork on his boss' desk. "Can I head home now?"_

 _"Head home? Hah! You're joking right?"_

 _"But I finished today's work load…"_ 'I also did some of tomorrows work too.' _The boy thought._

 _"It's not about quantity you shit-head it's about quality. You never are good enough, how did you even manage to be my subordinate with such a low IQ level?" The fat man spat at Haise while chewing on a hotdog._

 _Once again, the boy was humiliated in front of his colleagues. The giggles, whispers and pointed fingers brought tears to the edge of his eyes._

 _"B-but I don't understand sir, everyone else around me is doing the same thing. I just have to match the information with that on the computer to approve it. How could I-"_

 _"So you just admitted that you don't know how to use a computer?"_

 _"N-no, I was going to ask how quality even matters here beca-"_

 _"It's either that or you can't read what's on the paper. I'm not surprised, ghouls never were really smart."_

 _The whole room burst in laughter. Giggles became sniggering, whispers became shouting and pointing became throwing. The poor boy was insulted and assaulted countless times whenever he came to submit the work he spent four times as much effort in as his lazy superior, yet why does it always have the opposite effect than what plays in his mind? For some reason, he felt like he had experienced it before in his life. He would come home with amazing results but would get not so amazing rewards. But, when was that again…? The poor boy couldn't remember._

* * *

 _Even as days became weeks and weeks became months and months eventually became a year, the same routine would happen over and over again. Wake up at a ridiculously early time, get ready, go to work, do a ton of your work (and some of your co-worker's work because they're assholes), get scolded for doing well, get laughed at, do some more work or go on a ridiculously hard ghoul extermination mission, go to your cheap apartment to grasp the couple of hours you have left to sleep, barely get any sleep because of the stupid nightmares you get in this weird checkered room._

 _Haise didn't have much choice to retaliate. Though the little chance that he did have to retaliate, he would gladly take it._

* * *

 _"Are you alright? Do you need me to get call the medic squad or can you walk to the-" The beaten and bettered half-ghoul spoke to a bleeding comrade after a successful extermination of S rated nutcracker._

 _"Well duh! Can't you see I've got a broken arm?! Are you dumb or something?! If you didn't take so long to kill that bitch then I wouldn't be injured right now. God, why was I teamed up with a useless cunt like you?" That was the reply he got from the man he saved, then man he used his kagune and body to shield because of his inexperience. This ungrateful bastard caused him a lost hand, several broken bones, slashed abdomen, pierced eye and severed kagune._

 _"W-wha?! What the fuck? I should've known you'd be like this. I shouldn't have bothered shielding your ass. I saved your life, and you give me that attitude?! You didn't do shit in this fight!" Arguing with the man felt like losing 10 brain cells per second, and he was in no condition to move at all let alone waste valuable breaths to try and help a hopeless case._

End of Flashback.

* * *

The clouded eyes that haven't seen the truth in so long can only handle so much.

Kaneki's cheeks became the railways for the puddled tears that escaped his eyes. Finally he understood the magnitude of their loyalty and love. "I-I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you guys were doing all this for… _for me_?" It was more of a question as if he was confused and wanted the obvious answer spelled out to him.

 _For me?_

"We build :re for you Ken. If you were to ever return, we would gladly accept you and keep you safe." The smallest smile inched on Yomo's face.

"Well if it's too hard to understand then think about it as one big family to simplify things." Hide added.

Touka stood up and walked over to Kaneki, causing his head to look up and trail her movement. She squeezed in between Kaneki and Hide, not caring that the blond gestured about private space. She looked up to Kaneki's tear soaked face and hugged his arm. "Let :re help you build another life Kaneki, the life you haven't lived for 2 years. I know it's gonna be hard to build again but then again, that's why :re is here. Let's help each other out and restart, it'll help you realize just how important you are to us."

She gave Kaneki what could only be described as the most stunning smile he has ever seen. It was so graceful and matched perfectly with her shinning eyes and wavy hair, it helped him to see the beauty she is. Kaneki savoured that smile, engraved it into his memory. He's gonna need it for encouragement if anything. "Thank you… thank you. I know it's not much, but it's always been hard for me to show my emotion so for now I'll show it by expressing how I feel through those words. But don't worry, I won't be giving you petty thanks every day. I'll try my hardest every day to build the life that you've given me the sketch to. I think you'd prefer that instead."

I'm sure there's no need to express how happy the rest felt to know that the stubborn, suicidal Kaneki finally gave life a second chance.

* * *

"Are you ready? Feeling nervous? Don't worry 'neki, I'll be here if you need me." Hide nudged Kaneki while he was washing a plate.

"Hide, I've been a waiter longer than you have, you just started a month ago. So I think that should be my line." Kaneki flicked a bit of water from his hand to the less experienced waiter beside him. "Because I'm the boss of you as the manager said, you going to improve your coffee making skills." Kaneki gave a smug grin at the other's frown.

"No fun. You taking advantage of Touka and Yomo's break. And I still don't get how you're the boss of me when you LITERALLY just started working 5 minutes ago." Hide pouted.

"Well they do deserve the break for today, they have been working hard ever since they opened this café and they also need to catch me a spot in Kamii. I'd be grateful that they actually trust the two of us with the shop."

Hide grinned. "You're gonna use the name Neki Mukade right? Talk about switching it up." Hide read off Kaneki's name tag on his waiter's uniform.

"I know right? It was Yomo's idea. He just jumbled up my first name while adding an 'I', or he just took the last four characters un my last name and took my alias (Mukade/Centipede) as my surname. It's pretty creative but what if someone notices and joins the dots? I'm worried someone might recognise me." Kaneki finished drying the last cup and started wiping the counter from water splashes while Hide tasted his practice latte.

"Nah don't worry man, you look totally different with that pale skin, white hair and cloudy (dreamy) eyes. You even look different from your time as Haise." _This latte is delicious._

"But what if someone notices my weird surname?"

"Trust me, I've seen weirder surnames."

"Like…"

"Like… umm… Saiko (crazy) and Barbie and stuff"

"Like Nagachika too." Kaneki joked.

"Maybe Kaneki? I think that's the weirdest one I've come acros-"

Hide was cut off by the sound of the bell ringing signalling a new costumer.

"Welcome to :re!" The two worker snapped out of their chat and welcomed two rich looking business men without silver briefcases in their hands (to which Kaneki sighed in relief).

"Thank you." The first man wearing mostly all black with rectangular glasses responded while the second one looking a lot scruffier just went to the closest table by the door.

Hide slowly edged to Kaneki who was putting enough filtering paper on the shelf for the day. "Can you ask them what they want please?" Hide whispered in his best friend's ear when he saw the two gentlemen began conversing.

"And why's that? I thought the plan was you take orders and I make the stuff until 2:00, then we switch roles." Kaneki raised an eyebrow at his weird friend.

"Can you take the orders first? I umm… I kinda served the messy looking one's wife a coffee that was made from expired beans and she got sick. It was an accident and I apologised but he still hates me…"

Kaneki smiled. "Sounds just like you." He grabbed his notepad and pen from his waiter's apron and went to grab the order not before he heard Hide sigh in relief.

"Hello, are you ready to order?"

"Can I get a cappuccino with an egg sandwich please? And what about you Huguo-san?" Kaneki jotted down the man's order while waiting for the other man to order.

"… A latte."

"Right, thank you." Kaneki noticed the scruffy man was staring at him, eyes narrowed as if he though Kaneki might put poison in his latte. Paying him no mind, Kaneki made his back to the counter while making a mental note.

 _He smells of a ghoul._

 _Why was he staring at me?_

 _Better question, why is he with the human with glasses?_

 _Whatever, none of my business._

"Here's the order." Kaneki ripped the page and handed it to Hide who got to work before the bell rang again.

"Welcome!"

"Thank you darling." An old couple entered the shop and took a seat near the far back.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Gounta! Mornin'!" Hide stopped making the egg sandwich and waved at the elderly couple with a smile.

"Oh hello Nagachika, good morning to you too." The old woman waved a shaky hand.

"Heh, still as bright as ever kid." The old man winked and the two took their seats.

Deciding not to bother questioning their relationship, Kaneki rested his elbows on the counter and watched the blond get back to work. He decided to give the couple some time to chose their order even if they seemed to be regulars. Hide was surprisingly efficient with the other order and had everything organised considering he was a messy character. As Hide finished the order, he put each item on a separate plate then on a brown serving tray.

"You better have made sure you used good coffee beans this time." Kaneki teased making Hide roll his eyes.

"I tried extra hard on his coffee, I hope he notices my hard work." Hide slowly handed the tray to his friend who shook his head.

"You should always try 'extra hard' for every customer, no short cuts Hide. Tut, tut." Kaneki playfully pulled a disappointed face.

"You sound just like Touka."

"Touka and I have two things in common: experience." Kaneki said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Whatever _Neki_." Hide retaliated with emphasis on the new name.

Kaneki made his way to the two gentlemen with the (fake) smile he used for every customer plastered on his face. "Thank you for ordering. Please enjoy."

"Thank you Mr. Mukade" Kaneki's smile grew genuine at the man's mention of his fake name. For some reason it felt strangely… exhilarating. Maybe it was the satisfaction of fooling people for thinking he was a kind young man rather than a one-eyed monster. Or maybe it was less of an evil satisfaction like finally being able to have a normal life again. He couldn't tell, maybe both.

"No problem sir." Kaneki replied before making his way to the old couple to take their order.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I wasn't sure about how this chapter turned out. I redid it twice but I'm still not happy with the result, but I hope it's still good for you guys.  
I'd just like to clarify something: Yoriko and Hide know all about Anteiku and the ghouls in this AU.**


	11. Chapter 11: New life III

**Chapter 11: New life III**

Due to the sudden change in events, Hide decided to move from his apartment in the 14th ward and move to the 20th ward where he'll find himself with a half-ghoul as a roommate (not that he minded). Until Kaneki (otherwise known as Neki Mukade) earns enough money for him to rent an apartment on his own, his stuck with Hide. But, being the blockhead that he is, Kaneki wanted to take on another part-time job to 'hurry up and get the damn money'.

"You really stress yourself out Kaneki. You've got university and work at Anteiku and now you want to work at another restaurant? What was is name again?"

"'Rest our aunt'." Kaneki answered, reading one of his many books on the couch.

Hide snorted in a pathetic attempt to hide a laugh.

"Yeah… it's a stupid name that is literally pronounced 'restaurant' but is spelt 'rest our aunt'. Well, at least I can earn money faster to get my own apartment by working there. I'll apply for the job after college today." Kaneki didn't take his uncovered grey eye off his book while speaking to his friend that was scrolling down his endless list of songs on his phone. Only one eye stared at the contents of the book while the other slept under an eyepatch. It was still there in case his rowdy left eye turned, but it was also for a sentimental purpose and 'for comfort'.

Although it seemed like Kaneki hadn't thought his options at a new life through well, he had considered it harshly. A new life was something that had never _ever_ crossed his mind since becoming the mess he is now. Having the chance at such a thing made Kaneki surprisingly nervous. Though he though his options were simple, he thought around every angle and pin pointed every pro and con before deciding on what to make out of his life.

"But I don't think working at a _restaurant_ is best." Hide continued the conversation in an attempt to keep the two out of an awkward silence. He indirectly sent his worry message to his friend who now looked up from his book to see a stoic faced Hide.

 _Well that's rare, seeing his face all serious._

Kaneki found himself staring. He couldn't help it, his best human friend was so… _mysterious_. But how could he be so mysterious when his character is so simple? Maybe it's envy. Yeah… it probably is. Looking at himself, Kaneki mentally chuckled. _How could I think someone like him is a mystery when he's so simple compared to me? I've had at least three different personalities and I still find it hard to read him, but Hide can read me no matter what. He can see through my eyes as if they were open doors._ Yep, definitely envy.

Looking up, Hide found his best friend staring with a completely emotionless face. "… creepy."

"H-huh?" Kaneki broke from his stare in a daze, before quickly realising his… creepiness. "Sorry. I was lost in thought."

Hide only smiled. And Kaneki resisted the urge to stare again and wonder just what that smile meant.

…

Kaneki sighed.

"Fine. I won't work a second job."

Hide put his phone in his pocket and put the headphone around his neck on his head to listen to the music. "Good. Well, we better get going. It's almost time for college, so get ready Kaneki."

Kaneki folded the page on his book as he got up and stretched.

* * *

Kaneki wore a black sweater, dark grey fingerless gloves, grey slacks and a pair of black Hi-tops. The two went shopping a few days ago to get Kaneki some clothes, but he only picked the monotone clothes much to his best friend's distress.

"You're so boring and dull when it comes to clothes. Come on, take some inspiration from me!" Hide said after eying the half-ghoul on his phone for over a minute. "The only colours you wear are black, grey and white."

"They're the only colours that suit me Mr Sunshine." Hide almost swallowed his chewing gum at his new nick name. "Do you really think that your orangey yellowy happy sunshine appearance would work on someone like me?"

"Okay, okay I get it Mr Midnight." Hide waved his hand at the half-ghoul to emphasise his point. "But you could at least branch off into other colours like blue or red."

"Since when did you become a fashion expert?" Kaneki asked, adjusting his shoulder bag.

"Since the beginning of time my dear friend." Hide planted a hand on his friend's shoulder who chuckled at the sarcastic comment.

They continued to walk through the peaceful streets of the 20th ward, while Hide cracked a joke every here and then.

 _Nothing changed_. Kaneki noted. _It's still the 20th ward, it's still… home. I'm glad._ Kaneki smiled as they reached all too familiar college the two friends went together years ago. Students buzzing around the campus, chatting with friends, having coffee on the benches. Kaneki smiled at the sight, enjoying the familiarity before a football came shooting his best friend's way. Not wanting his best friend to end up six feet under, Kaneki spin kicked the ball sending it shooting back to its owner, leaving a dumbfounded Hide staring at the receding form of the ball flying away.

"T-thanks." Hide said, still dumbfounded. _What the fuck just happened?_

"What an asshole…" Kaneki mumbled under his breath as he realised the owner of the ball started running to them.

"I'm so sorry!" A black haired, green eyed boy shouted as he ran to them with the ball under his arm. "I didn't mean to kick it so hard at you." The boy looked a year or two younger than them but he was fit with a healthy body. He held out a hand to which Kaneki didn't want to shake.

Hide decided to take the hand instead. "No harm done."

"Thanks, my name's Naoki Amano. Nice to meet you." The boy smiled brightly.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Hideyoshi Nagachika."

"I'm really sorry I almost hit you Hideyoshi-san." The boy apologised.

"No problem! Call me Hide." Hide smiled to try and shake off the guilt in the younger boy.

The boy turned his eyes to Kaneki who was staring at him with a poker face.

"This here is Neki Mukade." Hide noticed the two staring and decided to introduce his best friend.

"Nice to meet you Neki-san." The boy smiled nervously.

"Likewise." Kaneki replied simply, not bothering to put an ounce of emphasis in his voice.

A silence rang between the three of them as the boy grew redder from the awkward silence, and from the strange white haired upperclassman staring at him.

"W-well, I need to go. BYE!" The boy sped off, running away from the human and half-ghoul.

"What a weirdo." Kaneki commented almost to himself.

"Well… that was pretty awkward." Hide said as the two realised the campus was quieter. _Much_ quieter.

Looking around, they noticed the stares everyone was giving Kaneki.

 _Shit, they're looking at me!_

 _Did they realise who I am?!_

 _Did I really make it that obvious?_

 _SHI-_

"Calm down Neki." Hide, who noticed his friend's anxiety, rested is hand on his best friend's shoulder. "It's just 'cuz of your stunt. And you probably stand out a lot."

Kaneki lifted his head and looked into the chocolate brown eyes. "Yeah… and my hair isn't really helping is it?"

Hide laughed. "Yep. I told you, you should've dyed it."

Kaneki shook his head. "No. My roots are just going to grow out white again. And if I keep on dying my hair then it's going to be crusty and ruined."

"Then how come you're roots grew black when you were in the CCG?" Hide made sure to whisper the last part.

"Because they kept on giving me suppressants. The doctor said something about it increasing my melanin production… or something like that. It's not like I was dying it or anything."

"So why don't you just wear a wig?"

…

"Oh… I didn't think about that." Kaneki scratched his head in embarrassment of not thinking of the simple solution.

"Well, it's too late now. Everyone's already seen you hair, and they're still staring."

Kaneki realised the attention everyone was still giving him. Tensing up, he silently wished for everyone to stop whispering about him… _especially the girls_.

 _"Did you see that?! He's so cool!"_

 _"Wow… he's so good looking."_

 _"Look at his hair, it looks so soft!"_

 _"His eye is so dreamy~"_

 _"I call dibs!"_

Kaneki's eyebrow ticked when he heard those comments. His anxiety soon turned to annoyance. Ever since the Rize incident, he had no intension of getting a relationship with random girls, ESPECIALLY through some silly excuse of being 'good looking'. After all, that's the reason why he went out with Rize, her looks.

If he ever would get in a relationship, it would be with someone he trusts and has been together with for a good amount of time. Even though 'looks' is a big factor to getting in a relationship, Kaneki just doesn't buy it. It's understandable, considering that his life was quite literally turned upside down because of some stupid date with a 'good looking' girl.

"Looks like someone's popular with the ladies~" Hide teased, causing Kaneki to get slightly more annoyed.

 _They're so stupid and naïve. They trust anyone and everyone without even know who the hell they are. Bet they'll never guess that I'm actually a one-eyed centipede freak._ Kaneki wished he could say that to his friend but decided against showing his anger. "I'm not interested. I don't even know who they are and I didn't come here for a stupid relationship."

Hide knew what he was talking about. Well of course he did, he's Hide.

Kaneki knew he made his reason clear, despite not mentioning it. At this point, Kaneki didn't care anymore. Hiding something from Hide is practically impossible so he's just come to accept it. Maybe that's why 'Hide' was in his name.

Hide decided to keep the mood up and continue teasing his friend as they walked in the building. "Aww come on. They're so cute, you've gotta be crazy to not scoop one up."

"'Scoop one up'? No thanks. You can do that if you want but I'll pass." Kaneki pulled out his timetable to see his first class of the day.

Hide sighed. "I've already tried. I think I need more practise though, even Touka-chan didn't accept me!"

"Wait you're still trying that with Touka?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Hide smirked.

"Give it up. Knowing her, she'd probably send you six feet under if you keep asking." Kaneki smiled. "Anyway, I'm going to my class."

"Not yet Mr Neki Mukade." Hide stopped Kaneki from walking off by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Why?"

"'Cuz you 'new' remember? Every new student has to be shown around. And all the freshmen were shown around yesterday when college started so you'll be shown around on your own since you started today." Hide explained, earning a pout from his white haired friend.

 _I forgot about that! I don't need to be shown around, what a drag._

"But I'm not a freshman. I joined as a junior on my fourth year." Kaneki replied, still pouting at the thought of wasting time being shown around when he already knows where everything is.

"Even if you did join as an 11th grader, you're still 'new' so you don't know where everything is, right?" Hide spoke sarcastically, making Kaneki annoyed.

"Fine, whatever." Kaneki moaned, exposing his annoyance.

"See ya!" Hide waved. "Oh, you're going the wrong way."

Kaneki glared at Hide, threatening him with the death in his eyes.

"I guess you really do need to be shown around huh?" Hide laughed, ignoring the dangerously narrowed eyes aiming to burn a hole in his head.

* * *

Kaneki didn't expect there to be other people waiting to be shown around. Other than himself, there were three boys and two girls. He also realised that they were all in the freshman year, which made it a bit awkward. But he didn't look bothered, even though he felt eyes on him. Instead of asking why they're staring (even though he already they were staring at his strange appearance), he decided to continue reading his book while holding canned coffee in his hand.

He took a sip of the black liquid and sighed. How many times has he read this book again? He'd lost count. _Seriously, are there any good horror books out there? I need to check again, hopefully there'll be some decent ones for me to pass time._

"Sorry to you all waiting!" Kaneki looked up to find two girls smiling brightly. He noticed they were around his age and looked almost identical. _Probably twins._

"I'm Emi Aki and this is my sister Eri." The two girls had blood red hair and beautiful brown eyes. Emi had long, lose hair while Eri had shorter hair in a tight ponytail. "We'll be showing you around Kamii so follow us please."

The group began to move around the building, the twins were showing the freshmen (and Kaneki) how the classes were identified, where the restrooms were, where the cafeteria was, where the gym was and other details. At one point, one of the freshman girls brought out a notepad and pen to take notes. However, Kaneki was just strolling along the back of the group, daydreaming.

The hallways were empty because students were in the middle of lectures, so it was relatively easy to get around and get outside. "And this is where the tennis courts are. Kamii has tennis tournaments every month along with other sporting games."

Kaneki yawned. He couldn't care less about a stupid tennis tourn-"And the reward for the winning team is a certain amount of money."

Kaneki stopped mid yawn. That peaked his interest. _Money huh? Well that's something I need._

"Um excuse me?" Kaneki called out to the twins. They turned around and widened their eyes much to Kaneki's confusion.

Before Kaneki could ask anything, Eri spoke first. "You're Neki right?"

"Um, yeah…?" _Did they not know I was here?_ _Well that's surprising, I thought I stood out. More importantly, how does she know my 'name'?_

"O-oh, just asking." She looked away from his one uncovered eye and gave a slight blush. "Sooo… umm what did you want to ask?"

"I wanted to ask how to join a tennis team." Kaneki never really enjoyed sports, so he never really knew or cared how to join a team on any sport.

Both their faces brightened up. "Well you can join Emi and I's tennis team! We'd be happy for you to join."

 _Ugh… I asked to join_ a _tennis team not_ their _tennis team._ "Umm… I'll think about it. But where can I see all the tennis teams and their players?" Kaneki smiled, trying so act like how a normal person would in this situation.

"Oh, there's a display board in the gym that shows all the teams for each sport and the next tournament arrangements. It also tells to when and where to go if you want to sign up for a specific team, if they're not already full. Of course, they'll have to accept you for you to join, most of the time they'll test you in a game and evaluate your skills." Emi explained, looking almost proud of herself for knowing the information.

"Okay, thank you." Kaneki smiled at the girls to which they smiled back, except more… passionately.

* * *

"WHAT A NIGHTMARE!" Kaneki was so frustrated, he hadn't expected most of his classes to have the two flirting twins in them. "DO THEY NOT GET THE HINT?"

"Haha, chill out Neki. I know how you feel." Hide handed Kaneki a steaming cup of coffee, who rested on the couch in Hide's apartment.

"No you don't, you like picking up chicks." Kaneki replied, nodding in thanks to the warm coffee.

"And since when were you not picking up chicks? Hmm?" Hide raised an eyebrow and smiled pervertedly at his friend to which the latter grunted.

"Since learning from my mistakes." Kaneki deadpanned.

"Which is whe-"

"By the way, I need to know about my 'past'. I almost got caught when some the guys at my new tennis team asked more about me." Kaneki obviously changed the subject, and took a sip of his coffee.

"Yomo should have the papers." Hide responded, respecting his friends desire to discontinue the particularly sensitive subject.

Kaneki groaned. "Ugh, but I just came back from my shift at that damn coffee shop! My legs are dead from running away from those hungry bitches on the way here and I can't be asked to move right now, this couch is comfy."

"Last time I checked, that couch cost me less than a flip up phone." Hide chucked at his friends futile excuse.

"Please Hid-"

"Nope." Hide slouched on the couch next to his friend's dark nailed feet.

"And here I thought we were friends." Kaneki slowly got up from the couch, unable to suppress the groans that left his mouth.

"Tell ya what, I'll accompany you there." Hide spoke, causing his friend to stop dead in his tracks and stare at him over his shoulder.

"Alright fine… wait what the- What's the point? You might as well just go there yourself." Kaneki looked so annoyed, making the blond enjoy his friends suffering.

"Exactly, you might as well go there yourself since you already got up." Hide laughed, earning a 'fuck you Hide' from his half-ghoul friend as he slammed the front door loudly behind him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry if this ending seemed a bit abrupt, I tried to make it more… well… not abrupt. I also apologise for uploading on Monday and not on the weekends, I had a lot to do. Also, I had a request for Gazel to meet 'Eyepatch', so I'll try my best to make that happen, (hopefully soon).**


	12. Chapter 12: Volta

**Hey guys! In this chapter, I changed the plan a little to include Dotred's request: "Make Gazel meet Kaneki while he's Eyepatch."**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Volta**

Kaneki had finally gotten his own apartment. It's wasn't amazingly good but it wasn't awesomely bad either, just average. It had a decently big living room with a couch, coffee table and a flat screen TV (much to Hide's jealousy). His bedroom had the perfect amount of space to fit a bed, a desk and just enough space for morning workouts. His kitchen wasn't impressively big but to be honest, he didn't really care. All he would use in there was the refrigerator and freezer, he hadn't even touched the stove or cooking utensils. Maybe he'll use them when Hide comes over? His bathroom was very clean much to his surprise, the toilet was new, the bathroom was spacious and the sink was shining. Overall, he was very impressed. For the price of Hide's own apartment, Kaneki got one… well, better. It was 25 minutes away from Kamii and 17 minutes away from :re if you walked. Perfect.

Life had ben indifferent for the last month or so. College had been… normal. No other word to describe it other than normal. Other than the appearance of Yoriko of course. Kaneki hadn't expected her to still go to college at Kamii after joining the CCG as a spy. Despite that, she was still very clumsy and used the wrong hand to shake Kaneki's offered hand.

Well other than that, Kaneki's new life was uneventful (apart from the occasional girl asking him out).

* * *

(December _7th, 22:41)_

Kaneki breathed a puff of air as he blocked the number that kept sending him flirty messages. Even after getting a new phone, people still somehow got their hands on his number. Anyway, what made him think that going to the 14th ward in the freezing cold was a good idea? Let alone at night. On top of that, wearing a black hoodie with his (sentimentally valued) mask in its pocket and a regular pair of jeans that carried his wallet and keys. Well, whatever made the thought come to his mind, he should hurry up and get back home because it was getting chillier by the second.

However, quiet, swift footsteps behind Kaneki made him turn around as his instincts flared and he prepared to fight anything that posed a threat to his bein- "Oh, Hey! What's with that scary look?"

Kaneki stopped his thought process as he realised he was looking at his blond friend. "O-oh." Kaneki smiled sheepishly and mentally face palmed. It had always been a habit of his, expecting every sudden occurrence to be a threat. But at least sometimes it actually comes in handy like when he was faced with a ghoul. "Sorry, didn't expect to meet you out so late."

"You could scare the living shit out someone if you give them that look you know." Hide warned as he jogged up to his best friend who was putting his phone away in his jean's pocket. "How are you not shivering when you're wearing that getup?!"

Kaneki smiled and put on a menacing tone. "Because I'm colder than the cold."

"If I didn't know you, I would call the police."

"Bad move. The CCG should be first on your mind."

"Yeah, you're right." Hide chuckled.

…

"Wait, why are you here? It quarter to eleven Hide, it's dangerous." Kaneki was worried that his friend could get himself in some trouble if he wasn't careful.

"You worry too much. Just out here for some nice fresh air."

"There's nothing nice about it. We're practically in a freezer."

"Except in a freezer, the air's not fresh." Hide replied as-a-matter-of-factly and smiled at Kaneki, expecting the latter to do the same except he frowned.

"I can never understand what that brain of yours is thinking." Kaneki shook his head.

"I make it a priority to conceal my identity." Hide said in a mockingly serious tone, turning his head to narrow his eyes at Kaneki who had his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"It's not really concealing your identity Hide."

"Same thing!"

"Not it's not actually."

…

"You were following me weren't you?" Kaneki looked at his friend who stuttered in response.

Hide sighed in defeat. "Well… kind of. When you texted me saying you were going to meet some 'people', I wanted to see who they were."

Kaneki raised an eyebrow. "You should've just aske-"

"AHHH!" A girlish scream echoed through the empty streets, cutting Hide off and alerting the half-ghoul. Silence followed through, making the two friends increasingly cautious.

They turned to looked at each other briefly before Kaneki grabbed Hide by the arm and dragged him towards where the sound came from. Kaneki had a bad feeling about this, and usually his instincts are right, which is usually good but not in this situation.

 _Wait! What am I doing?!_

 _If I drag Hide into that mess then I'll put him in danger!_

Kaneki turned on his left heel, facing the blond while skidding to a stop. Hide stumbled at the sudden movement. "What was that for?"

"You're staying here."

"So I'm guessing you're gonna stay here too?"

"No. I'm going to see what that scream was about."

Hide sighed, knowing that this was going to happen. "This is the part where I say 'Then I'm going too!', then you say 'No! It's too dangerous!', then I say 'I'm not going to leave you!', then you say 'I don't want you to get hurt!' then I say 'But keeping me here alone is dangerous too!', then you stutter and don't know what to say and we end up going together. You know, all that cliché stuff." Hide stared at the dumbfounded face of his friend, who was not expecting that answer. "Sooooo… let's g-"

"Hold it." Kaneki put his arm in front of Hide, stopping him. "I get what you're trying to say and knowing you, you'll probably end up convincing me anyway." Hide grinned. "But. Stay. With. Me. At. All. Costs. Got it?" Hide nodded, while the two took off to the sound, while Kaneki grabbed his mask from his pocket, fitting it on comfortably.

* * *

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKIING ABOUT!" The voice of the girl rang through both their ears, louder this time telling them that they're getting closer.

"We're taking this right turn to the alleyway." Kaneki informed Hide, who almost bumped into a wall at the sudden turn.

"You could've said sooner." Hide mumbled before stopping behind Kaneki's still figure. Wondering why Kaneki had stopped, he looked up only to find a dark red-headed girl surrounded by five men, two of which Kaneki greatly recognised. A scruffy businessman and a caregiver. Turning to Kaneki, Hide was surprised to see his friend's visible eye widened. Even under the mask, he could tell the half-ghoul was horrified. "Kan-" Hide's mouth however was covered by a dark nailed hand as Kaneki's face turned serious and his eye became emotionless.

"Stay here Hide, I'll deal with them. There's nothing you can do to them, I can tell they're ghouls." Kaneki said to his friend, who nodded and removed the hand off his mouth.

"Alright, fine."

Their conversation however was heard by the men. Three of the men charged at them without hesitation while the other three (including the girl) stared at the half-ghoul in complete and utter shock.

The most muscular man threw a punch at Kaneki which he dodged, grabbed his vulnerable arm, twisted it and kneed the elbow joint. The man grunted in pain to the technique that Kaneki used against a similarly bulky man in the ghoul restaurant just over a year ago. Kaneki would follow up with a roundhouse kick if it weren't for a second man diving at him. Kaneki brought his arms in a cross in front of him to block the incoming head butt from the shorter man and took the brunt of a front kick from the muscular man. Kaneki grabbed onto the shorter man's shoulders and used them as foothold to do a front flip, dragging the man with him and letting go when his feet reach the floor, sending him flying forward towards the two remaining men beside the girl. The two ghouls dodged the attack, making the body fly past the girl and crash into a wall where a nasty crack could be heard along with crimson blood splattering around him. Hide mouthed a 'wow' before he realised the third man that charged at Kaneki was now heading towards him.

"Umm… hi?" Hide said as he stared at the incoming ghoul with a nervous smile. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. Though not useful against a ghoul's skin, it can be harmful to their eyes right? "Can we talk about this… please?"

There was no chance for the ghoul to consider the option because Kaneki had already seen the danger his best friend was in and back flipped onto the bigger man behind him, before proceeding to choke the man with his right arm over the bigger man's neck. Being fed up with the time it's taking to choke the man, Kaneki decided to snap his neck to speed up the process. Before the big man started to fall limply, Kaneki jumped off his shoulders towards the third ghoul.

"Stop attacking fools, that's him!" Kaneki heard a voice behind him say but he didn't care. It was just another one of the men and besides, he needed to help Hide.

Kaneki landed right between Hide and the ghoul who stopped abruptly at the command of the scruffy ghoul in a business suit. The half-ghoul didn't stop himself though, he brought his leg up and drop kicked the ghoul, sending his face crashing into the concrete, cracking the floor and most likely his skull too. Hide sighed in relief and mouthed a 'thanks' to his friend who stared at the other two ghouls who now stood on either side of the young girl that was staring at the white haired ghoul with an open, quivering mouth. A tear ran down her cheek while she looked into the masked ghoul who had now saved her twice. She subconsciously took a step forwards which resulted in her getting slapped by the chocolate haired ghoul.

"Unless you want to be beaten senseless, I suggest you let the girl go Toshio." Kaneki menacingly growled to the ghoul who just slapped the red-haired girl.

"It seems like luck is on our side." The other ghoul stepped forward and responded before Toshio could. "On top of the girl, we also get the Mukade."

Kaneki just stared, waiting if the man would say something worthwhile before he snapped his neck for Gazel's sake. "And you were looking for me because?"

"I'm just going to be upfront. We need your strength. Orders from above are to invite you." The man replied almost instantly.

Kaneki widened his eyes his eyes, and so did Hide. They didn't expect that reason of all things. "What?" Kaneki asked in total confusion.

"We need your strength Mukade. In case you haven't realised yet, you're famous in the ghoul world."

"What do you need my strength for? What's you little gang's name?" Kaneki wasn't planning to join any random organization, but he asked the question because his curiosity got the best of him.

The man smiled. "The aims of Kagakusha (Science freak) is to bring order to this world. To restore the balance that was lost and find the key to this birdcage."

"And how exactly will that girl help you?" There was menace in his voice, anger for hurting Gazel.

"Two reasons actually. First is to lure you out from under your little rock, Mukade. Second is to use her. We've been running low on test subjects recently." The man gave a wide smile, showing a single gold tooth.

 _Do they really think that I'd join them after telling me that they'll experiment on her? Idiots._ "No." Kaneki deadpanned. Like hell he would let that happen. He'd heard it too many times. _'To bring peace'_ or _'For justice'._ People like him saying those stupid sayings and beliefs that present themselves true on the outside, but harbour the most rotting lies on the inside. Just like an apple that rots from the inside out. Kaneki released his Kagune and two tendrils gracefully sprouted from his back. He's not going to go join some fools who mislead their thoughts, especially since they hurt Gazel.

The man sighed. "Of course you'd say that. That's where the third use for her comes in." He gestured to the girl who realised she was now the centre of attention. She took a step back but was immediately pushed forward by Toshio and grabbed by the arm.

"You come with us and she doesn't get killed." Toshio got straight to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush with the masked ghoul.

Kaneki stared at the men with narrow eyes for 5 tense seconds. He stepped forward, causing the two men to tense up. "What do you think you're doing?" Toshio asked, putting his hand on the girl's throat in warning as he eyed the advancing ghoul.

"You said come with you and she doesn't get hurt right?" Kaneki smiled under his mask, though it wasn't visible. Kaneki kept his tendrils behind his back, out of sight. Using the advantage that only rinkaku's have, Kaneki liquefied his kagune and split them in two to make four tendrils, sending two of them deep underground.

"Put the kagune away, we're not idiots, idiot." Toshio spat back at Kaneki, who shrugged and his two uncovered tendrils evaporated into a red mist. This lowered their guard down just an inch, but it was plenty for Kaneki. His visible eye grew wide with glee and he smirked beneath his mask just as two tendrils erupted from the ground in front of them. One wrapped itself around the girl while the other sharpened its scales and stabbed Toshio's abdomen. The girl was dragged back to Kaneki by the single tendril while the other kagune was almost immediately cut to shreds by the scruffy ghoul as it stabbed Toshio who was groaning in pain.

Kaneki ignored his pain and when the girl was in a safe distance, he allowed both his kagune to dismantle. The girl stumbled and fell onto the concrete floor while the two ghouls regained their composure and cursed their stupid mistake.

"Wanna play some more? I've still got time so how about it?" Kaneki dared while the two backed away after having their hostage freed.

"You fucker! You're so gonna regret that asshole!" Toshio cursed as he squeezed his slow healing abdomen. He stepped forward, causing Kaneki to raise his eyebrow. But before he could do anything stupid, he was held back and dragged wordlessly to safety by his partner in crime.

Hide sighed as he released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. _Kaneki can be really scary sometimes_.

Gazel stared blankly at the masked figure three metres away from her as if admiring him, or maybe she was actually admiring him. Kaneki's eye soon lay on her kneeling figure, and although he seemed calm and emotionless, he was screaming on the inside.

He didn't know what to do. He forgot to plan ahead to when this would happen, which is pretty stupid.

…

"Do you remember me?" Kaneki was surprised by the sudden question, and decided whether to answer or not. Kaneki gave the faintest nod, unable to keep himself from turning to leave. Gazel nodded back, while her eyes were still wide as if she was having a hard time comprehending just who was before her.

"The real question is, do you recogn- remember me?" Kaneki allowed his voice to be the slightest bit smoother, despite his slip up in words.

"Of course I do…" She replied, still unable to get the shock of what the hell just happened in the past five minutes off her. "You saved me… you saved my life before as well."

Kaneki shook his head and turned to leave. "No, you don't remember me." He saw Hide in the shadows of the alleyway, staring at him with confused, questioning eyes.

"N-no!" Gazel shouted when she realised her masked saviour was going to leave for a second time. "I…I…" Kaneki turned his head and over at her from his shoulder.

The masked ghoul sighed. "When you remember me, then I'll come back to you. Don't worry, you'll have the chance." He jumped onto a building and disappeared from the girl's view before she could respond, leaving her to ponder on his words.

…

Tears welled up in the poor girls eyes. Had she really just seen her saviour and let him go again?

 _Why didn't I stop him? Why did I hesitate to speak? It's as if he…_

Gazel struggled to get up. She looked over at the building where the ghoul disappeared, not even noticing the receding footsteps of Hide exciting the alleyway.

 _What did he mean I don't re… member him?_

Gazel subconsciously began to walk home, still dazed at her unexpected encounter.

* * *

Hide waited, leaning on a lamppost while scrolling through his song list. "I need new songs." He sighed, just before a white haired boy began to approach him. Hide looked up to see the saddened, unmasked face of his best friend.

"Okay, explain. What THE HELL was that all about? Who was that girl and who's that 'Toshio' guy? You seem to know them." Hide stepped forward, pausing his music and resting his headphones around his neck.

Kaneki stared at the floor, before looking up. "Gazel was one of the people that I was going to visit. And Toshio is a ghoul that worked there as a caregiver."

Hide's eyes widened. "Really?!"

Hide continued to stare at his friend in surprise. "So what was the 'remember me' part all about?"

Kaneki sighed. "It's a long story."

"We've got nothing but time." Hide countered, desperate to know the full story and satisfy his curiosity.

"Not here Hide. I'll tell you when we get back to my place."

"Yeah, you're right. Besides, it would be a problem if people saw the holes ripped out of your hoodie." Hide chuckled at Kaneki's surprised face when he turned his head to look at his back.

"Y-yeah, let's go."

* * *

 **I was originally planning to have Kaneki and Hide meet this new organization a different way, but since I got a request for Eyepatch to meet Gazel I decided I might as well just change the plan a bit so they could meet. I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review.**


	13. Chapter 13: Tournament

**IMPORTANT NOTICE:** **I've made a poll to decide whether Kaneki and Touka should fall in love. Please go over to my profile and vote, it's much appreciated. After about 2-3 weeks, I'll close the poll and base my story off of the results. ALSO, if most results come in as 'yes', then it would just be platonic.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Tournament**

The news surprisingly didn't surprise Touka or Yomo. They had known about the weird group's movements (especially Yomo) but didn't take any action. After all, if they interfered with something in another ward, trouble will come to the peaceful 20th ward.

The meeting went pretty smooth at least. Kaneki and Hide explained both their point of views in the encounter, and Touka ranted on how reckless Kaneki was.

"You could have easily revealed your identity Kaneki, do you know how much trouble that would bring not only to you, but :re and even the 20th ward as well?" Touka asked, her arms crossed.

"Noted." Kaneki replied simply, causing Touka to shake her head in disappointment.

"Ken, don't be so reckless. What would you have done if she found out who you were?" Yomo asked, face deadpanned as usual.

"That was kind of the idea." Kaneki also deadpanned, causing Yomo to raise an eyebrow, Touka to mouth 'what?' and Hide to sigh.

"I've already made the same mistake with Hide, I'm not going to make it again. Remember when you told me to learn from my mistakes Yomo?" Kaneki sighed. "Think about it. I saved her life about a year ago, don't you think it's just too cruel to just play 'Mr Mysterious' and keep her clawing at her head on who I am?" Kaneki stared at the floor expressionless, except his friends knew his mind was buzzing with all sorts of thoughts.

Kaneki looked up. "I've already saved her life twice now, and she's not had a normal childhood. You already know that she's seen that not all ghouls are the typical heartless predator. Someone who's seen all that in their childhood isn't someone to fall hook, line and sinker into the CCG's toxic manipulation."

…

"And if she snakes?" Touka asked, eyes narrowed.

"Then we'll cross that bridge when it comes, if it comes. Don't worry, It'll be at my own pace." Kaneki smiled. "Come on, I thought this meeting was going to form some sort of plan to get rid of those clowns, not some boring lecture. I have enough of those at uni."

"Same here." Hide sighed, much to everyone's surprise. "I say we hurry up and sniff them out."

"And how do you think we do that?" Touka asked.

"One of the freaks frequently comes to :re." Kaneki replied before Hide could open his mouth. "I'll confront him when he comes in the café in my shify." Touka's eyes grew wide while Yomo narrowed his slightly before he composed himself. Before anyone could ask why, Kaneki answered the unasked question. "The reason I want to deal with him is because they hurt someone I know, this is my deal." Kaneki got up and headed for the door. "Anyway, I've got a tournament to go to in around forty-five minutes. I need to go."

Yomo held his chin in thought while Touka stood up and stopped Kaneki.

"Can I join too?" Touka eagerly asked, a shine present in her eyes despite her slightly bored expression.

"U-uhh… sure? But they'll have to assess you in your skill level before you get in. Though I doubt that'll be a problem." Kaneki didn't expect her to be so eager, not that he had a problem with it. Now that he thought about it, it's probably better to have someone he knew in his team.

Touka smiled. "Thanks."

"They'll probably even let you in the tournament today if you show some nice skills."

"I was planning to." Touka held her smile, her excitement flowing through her.

"You probably should because this time the prize for winning the tournament is a week off to the beach. You like the beach don't y-"

"REALLY?!" Touka beamed. She always wanted to go to the beach, but never had the chance because of financial issues or because of her species.

Before Kaneki could reply, Hide butted in. "Sorry to interrupt your early celebration but we should go or we'll be late and they'll be no tournament."

"Huh? We?" Kaneki and Touka said in unison, both raising an eyebrow.

"I expected a warmer welcome into the group since we're teammates now after all now." Hide laughed at their shocked expressions as they walked out the room, leaving Yomo.

…

"They left me behind."

* * *

As they neared the tennis courts, they heard the chatter of different teams and the sound of tennis racks swiftly smacking tennis balls.

"Is this where the tournament is held?" Touka asked, looking around in at the rows of different tennis courts.

"Heya Neki-san!" A voice shouted at Kaneki, Touka and Hide, interrupting their conversation. "Why didn't you come for practise?"

"I texted you saying I didn't have time, Jun-kun. But anyway, can you squeeze Touka in the tournament before it starts? You said someone couldn't make it right?" Kaneki asked the leader of the tennis team, introducing his friend. Touka decided to smile to give a good image.

"U-uhh why all of a sudden? We barely have enough time to see if she's good enou-"

"She can win a 1v2 match, with her being against two people." Kaneki reassured the boy. _She can even win against the whole team._

Jun raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He didn't seem convinced, neither did his teammates around him, so Kaneki decided to prove it to him.

* * *

"W-wow… you're right." Jun breathed, astounded how easily the blue haired girl won the tennis match… in five minutes. "… How long has she been playing tennis? Is she like a master in tennis or something?" Jun asked Kaneki who stood beside him, also observing the match but with a bored expression.

"Uhh… you could say that." Kaneki replied causing Hide, who was enjoying the show with a bag of popcorn, to give a small laugh.

Jun turned around to face Kaneki. "Honestly, you two are monsters."

… _I_ _guess she didn't hold back enough either_. "So, I'm guessing you don't want 'monsters' to be in your team?"

"N-No! Don't get me wrong you joining is the best thing that happened to this tea-"

"S-so, am I allowed to join the tournament?" Jun turned around to see Touka putting a lock of hair behind her ears, a sweet smile plastered on her face.

 _Pretty_ … "YES!" Jun almost shouted before he could stop himself.

"Thank you, Jun-san." Touka giggled. "I'll go sign the board then." Touka began to leave with Kaneki and Hide trailing behind her, leaving everyone that observed the match in awe.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure you didn't need to flirt Touka, he was amazed by your performance anyway." Hide commented.

"Lol." Kaneki laughed along with Hide, causing Touka to sigh and begin writing her name on the 'Tennis competitors' board.

"I was just worried he wouldn't accept me. Anxiety, I guess." Touka replied, sitting on a nearby bench and spectating the practise games other teams are playing, followed by Kaneki and Hide.

"No, you were worried that you ultimately wouldn't be able to go to the beach." Kaneki corrected, earning a quick glare from Touka.

"How many teams are playing?" Touka asked, changing the subject.

"Six teams of seven. Each person from two opposing teams play against the other, the team with the most victories wins. The winners face the other winners until it's narrowed down to the last two teams." Kaneki replied.

"I expected more teams to play…" Touka though out loud.

"Not everyone would kill to go to the beach like you. There're more than one tournaments that reward other prizes so not all the teams are playing in this tournament. Our team just decided to choose this one." Kaneki reminded Touka.

"Was your team going to play with only going to play with six people if I didn't join?" Touka asked.

"Yeah, everyone decided that I would play twice, wise choice."

Touka chuckled at the comment. "So when does the tournament actually sta-"

"Neki-san! We should be going to the sports hall, the tournament is about to start. The rest of the team is already there." Jun jogged over to them, making them realise that the other players were also leaving to make their way to the sports hall too.

"Ok, let's go." Kaneki told his friends, who nodded and began to follow Jun to the sports hall.

* * *

Much to their surprise, a lot of spectators were gathered around the three tennis courts.

"Wow, there's a lot of people spectating." Touka commented, shifting uncomfortably with the attention the crowd's giving them. The team began to walk to the second court, where their enemies waited. After a quick discussion, Hide was chosen to play the fifth game, Kaneki playing the sixth game and Touka playing the seventh game.

The crowd was cheering, howling and whistling at the team with their friends, siblings or crush. Kaneki jotted down the scores for their game so far, one win, three losses. _Man, those three on my team suck. If only I could play for them._

"Those guys are pretty tough." Jun commented as walked over to where his team spectated the game. "I almost lost there."

"Nice one Jun! You were pretty smooth with your movements." Hide cheered, earning a 'thanks' from Jun.

"Well, I should get ready." Hide said, grabbing his tennis racket and making his way to the court.

"Good luck Hide-san!" Jun began to cheer Hide on as the game started.

Hide had to agree with Jun when he said that they were tough. He was against someone that probably had twice as much muscle as him and was on his fifth year at Kamii.

It seemed like the game was going on forever, and Hide had to admit he was worried. If the game drew to a draw, he would not only hurt his pride, he would also make disappoint his friends. Hide mentally shook his head and made a swift strike at the ball.

 _I can't think about negativity, I need to think about positivity! … I need a plan to win this game, 'cuz by the way this is going, the game isn't going to end with a winner. My opponent is just using speed to try and shoot the ball fast enough to catch me off guard._ Hide swatted the ball to the edge of the court, kissing his teeth when his opponent managed to reach the ball in time.

 _He clearly isn't smart because he just keeps on sending the ball straight to the middle of the pitch, not even bothering to try and trip me up by sending it to the side._ Hide tried to send the ball to the side again, only to have his opponent hit the ball back again.

 _I need to somehow take advantage of this…_

"One minute left!"

 _Crap… this isn't going anywhere. I need to make a gamble, I hope it pays off…_

As the ball began coming towards him, Hide shot the ball to the left corner of his opponent's side and stepped back. He crouched down as he saw his opponent swinging his arm to hit the ball back.

 _Perfect._

Just like Hide predicted the ball came shooting towards the middle of the court, right where Hide was.

"EAT THIS!" Pushing off of his right leg, Hide mustered as much power as he can and jumped towards the ball, smacking it in mid-air and sending it rocketing back to his opponent's right.

Completely dumbfounded by Hide's sudden stunt, his opponent idiotically dove in the opposite direction, causing a few spectating people to giggle.

"Yes!" Hide, showered in sweat, smiled. Turning to walk over to his friends, he saw them all with wide smiles, especially Kaneki.

"Nice one Hide! You used your brain for something other than trying to find out people's secrets for a change!" Kaneki teased, earning a nudge to his shoulder.

"Yeah right, I'm smarter than you'll eve-"

Touka pushed Hideout of the way from an incoming tennis ball while Kaneki caught it in his right hand as it shot past where Hide was less than a second ago.

Looking up to where the ball came from, they found the figure of Kaneki's next opponent, huffing and puffing in anger from the recent defeat.

Kaneki got up, eyes narrowed and fists ready to punch. "Calm down Neki, he's just pissed." Hide said as Touka helped him up, her eyes too were dangerously narrowed.

"If that ball hit your head you could've been knocked out, or even worse, your skull could have been fractured!" Kaneki argued, throwing the ball back. The ball zoomed past its owner's cheek, literally an inch away from hitting his flabbergasted face.

Kaneki grabbed his tennis racket and stomped his way to the court, followed by the shocked eyes of people that saw his throw.

Wordlessly, Kaneki waited for his opponent to retrieve the ball and start the game.

As the first ten seconds of the game played out, Kaneki contemplated on how to play with his opponent. As the ball was sent towards him Kaneki shot the ball high into the air, making it land back on the court at the very edge. The ball was hit back to him after his opponent managed to save it from bouncing off the court.

This time Kaneki shot the ball up into the air and made sure to make the ball come down right up to the net.

Kaneki repeated the process, much to his opponent's annoyance.

"One minute left!"

 _Was I playing with him for that long?_ Kaneki decided to end the game abruptly, after hitting the ball hard and fast enough to make it hit the court right in front of his opponent and bounce off hitting him in the stomach.

Kaneki turned around and walked back to where he saw Hide and Touka sitting, ignoring the groans of pain and cheering from the crowd of spectators.

"You had fun didn't you Kaneki?" Touka laughed. She also enjoyed the 'punishment' Kaneki put his opponent through, sometimes assholes deserved a little teaching.

Hide sighed. "I knew you'd do something like that…"

"Sorry Hide, I couldn't stand not doing something for the second time you almost got hit by a ball." Kaneki smiled at his friend roll his eyes.

"Okay, it's my turn." Touka stood up and grabbed her tennis racket before excitedly jogging up to the court.

"What a cutie." Touka looked up to see her opponent who was giving her a perverted smile. "I won't go so hard on you, but you have to have to give me a kiss after this game m'kay?"

"Looks like we'd be watching another poor student get beat up." Hide commented to Kaneki, getting comfortable.

"Yep." Kaneki nodded, also getting comfortable.

Touka narrowed her eyes but widened them again once she saw her opponent blow kisses to her. "Hurry up and start the damn game." Touka growled between clenched teeth.

"Oooo feisty one. You want to get it over and done with so you could be with me don't you?" Touka's annoyance spiked to anger when he laughed and threw the ball into the air to hit it.

Touka smiled, happy that she could finally get a chance to make the fat pervert lose some weight.

Hide and Kaneki watched the show. Touka would hit the ball making it land all over the place, also making her opponent run all over the place. "I guess he needs the extra exercise." Kaneki commented, taking a sip from the canned coffee he got from a nearby vending machine.

"Sometimes I'm scared of what she could do you know." Hide replied before he stuffed his face with a chocolate bar he got from the vending machine.

Kaneki laughed at his friend's banter, just barely able to swallow the coffee before doing so. "And sometimes I wonder what makes you so funny." Kaneki admitted as he watched Touka deal the final strike to the ball, sending it harshly crashing into her opponent's chest.

…

"… Yeah, I can see what you were talking about Hide." This time it was Hide's turn to laugh at his friend as they were engulfed in the loud cheers from the crowd.

* * *

 **I wasn't really happy with this chapter even after I re-wrote it 2 times. But, I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

 **Please review my work, it makes me happy :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Chain reaction

**Hi guys! I'd just like to remind you to please take part in my** **poll** **, it's really appreciated and it will determine a big plot change in the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Chain reaction**

 _(December 10th, 1:26)_

Kaneki dragged his feet across the floor, slowly making his way to his usual bench on campus away from all the loud students (who wouldn't know he missed his lunch). He slumped down and gulped his cheap coffee, murmuring on how bad it tasted.

"Neki-san!" Kaneki sluggishly turned his head and lazily scanned the two girls behind him. They both wore similar clothing; they both wore a sweater (one wore a red one while the other wore a blue one of the same design), and both wore a black skirt with black leggings. Despite they're suspiciously synchronized clothing, Kaneki didn't raise an eyebrow but let out a silent sigh. They both had their annoying little smiles and perfectly applied makeup on their faces, along with their lunches being gingerly held by their hands.

Kaneki tried his absolute best to forge a smile. "Yes Emi, Eri?" They flushed.

"Can we please join you?" Emi asked, straightening her blue sweater. Kaneki grew very annoyed and exhaled angrily, which the twins didn't seem to take notice of. Who knew being so nice could make you so annoyed?

"Sure." Kaneki replied half-heartedly, despite his agitation.

They quickly sat down opposite to him and Kaneki opened his book even quicker. Watching them from his peripheral vision, Kaneki saw they started to unpack their lunch that was beautifully prepared, but the smell from the freshly cooked food travelled not-so-beautifully up his nose.

"Neki-san?"

Kaneki hummed, not really interested in anything they have to say and carried on reading his book. "Emi and I have made these lunches and we wanted you to try them." Eri started.

"We also want you to honestly tell us which is better." Emi finished, pushing her food forward towards the bookworm.

 _Yeah, of course they'll ask that._

 _Duh, why didn't I think this was going to happen?_

Kaneki inwardly screamed in annoyance and anger. Bloody hell, he just wanted to peacefully drink cheap coffee (that tasted like shit) and read a book before lunch ends. Is that really so much to ask?

"Why?" Kaneki simply asked, not morphing his face into any sort of emotion.

"Well… because you'll be going to the beach tomorrow." Emi started.

"We thought we'll make you some food." Eri finished.

 _I hate it when twins do the 'finish the same sentence' thing._

 _Wait, how do they know I'll be going to the beach?_

 _Creepy…_

"You don't need to-"

"We also are 'coincidentally' going to the same beach too." Emi started.

"So I hope we can get along well together!" Eri finished, pushing her foodbox to that it touched a black nailed finger.

He grabbed the two boxes giving cancer to his nose and picked up the given eating utensils to wolf down a considerable amount of food from both boxes, wanting to get it over and done with. Swallowing the food whole was the hard part, literally everything there from chicken chunks to cookies either had a rough texture or a big size. It just made keeping a straight face harder with the big or hard food sliding slowly down your throat.

"So…"

"Whose is better?"

"I know this is pretty cliché, but I'd say it's a draw." Both pouted at the results, expecting to beat the other and 'win'. "I didn't really like the homemade cookies you made Emi. They were pretty bland and rough in texture. But I do like the small sushi rolls you made, the rice was cooked perfectly."

Emi's face lightened up and she sighed with relief. At least the sushi she spent God knows how many hours on payed off.

"As for you Eri, I really liked your strawberry tart because it was sweet but not overly sweet. But, your chicken bits need more balancing in its seasoning. The different spices and stuff you put in there is either too much or too little."

The twins were slightly surprised at their results. They hadn't expected an actual detailed review of their work, not that they minded. It just shows how much he focused on tasting the foods to give honest results on their food… _right?_

Kaneki was pleased with his response, it sounded like he took the time and effort to pick out the bad parts of their food, even though all of it tasted like waxy old toenails drenched in petrol. "So I would say that you Emi, are better at main foods while Eri is better at deserts."

"Thank you Neki-san."

"Do you want to finish the lunches?"

"Uh, no thanks. I'm already full." He nodded in thanks before grabbing his shoulder bag and stuffing his book in it.

He took his coffee and began to walk away from the two, ignoring the waves from behind him and eyes following him. Downing his coffee in one go, he hated how it not only tasted bad now, but cold.

Kaneki made his way inside the building, silently sniffing a bathroom to check if it's empty but regretting it when all that waffled up his nose was the smell of shit and piss. Gagging from the smell of the toilet and the burning pain in his stomach, he couldn't help but run to the next toilet and barge in there, not caring if there were people.

Much to Kaneki's confusion, there was only one person in the restroom… vomiting. However, his curiosity wasn't enough to stop the urge to rid the disgusting feeling in his stomach so Kaneki rushed to a cubical and emptied out all the contents.

Just as Kaneki flushed the toilet and put two small roles of toilet paper up his nostrils to block the smell, he finally heard the other stop vomiting and start to pant.

 _Is he a ghoul?_

 _Probably, I don't see why a human would do so much vomiting._

Unable to find out the person's species by smell, Kaneki decided to let it slide and rinse his mouth before exiting the stinking toilet, missing the sound of a grumbling stomach behind him.

Bored, Kaneki checked his watch and groaned when he realised there was still twenty minutes left of his lunch break. Hide had a detention and Touka forgot to pack her things so she had to skip college and quickly pack for tomorrow's trip to the beach, leaving Kaneki all alone.

He took out his phone from his pocket and started to furiously type to Hide.

 _"HIDEEEE I'M SO FUCKING BORED! SAVE ME!"_

Kaneki sighed, knowing his friend can't reply in a detention. Not really in the mood for reading, Kaneki decided to set an alarm on his phone and rest his head on a bench to take a nap. However, just before he was able to close his eyes, he saw a group of three girls walking to him with something that caught his eye… _dreaded lunch boxes._

Fear and terror filled Kaneki as he widened his eyes in horror like a child watching and 18+ horror film. Just as he was about to run as fast as his legs could take him, someone popped up in front of him.

"Kaneki-san!"

Kaneki's instincts immediately took over and he scanned the girl standing in front of him with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"Oh, Yoriko. Hello." Kaneki smiled, realising that it was only his friend. "Remember, it's Neki."

Yoriko clasped her mouth. "O-oh yeah, sorry hehe." She sat down beside Kaneki before three figures appeared in front of them.

"Hello Neki-chan!" The girl in the middle greeted, while the other two smiled brightly.

 _Why does everyone know my name?_

Kaneki honestly wasn't in the mood for this. He was already pissed off with the clueless twins and having nothing to do for his whole lunch break. Not even bothering to act nice or anything, Kaneki replied. "What?"

"Would you like to try some of our lunches?" The one on the left asked.

"Could you also tell us whose is bett-"

"Sorry, but me and Neki-san already had lunch together." Yoriko cut in, noticing her friend's agitation while he drew circles on his temples.

"We didn't ask you pumpkin-head." The one in they middle, who looked like the 'boss' of the group spat.

"Then no." Kaneki replied, just barely holding back the insults that were threatening to slip his mouth.

The girl stuttered for a second before her heart fell to her stomach. "Uh…"

Kaneki didn't want to see their faces anymore so he decided to stand up and walk away, dragging Yoriko with him and leaving three girls with their mouths wide open ready to catch flies. When Kaneki deemed it safe, he sat down on another empty bench away from all the students and let out a long, heavy, tired sigh. He was about to ask Yoriko to sit down with him until he saw someone familiar walking towards them.

"Kosaka, can you come with me and buy me a ticket for the arcade?" They boy smiled.

"Um, I've got lessons after."

"You owe me remember?"

Yoriko looked to the floor. True, she did owe him for buying her lunch when she had forgotten hers but going to the arcade now of all times is a bit too much. "Okay but afte-"

"Great! Thanks." He boy's smile grew wider as he grabbed her forearm and began to drag her away from a dumbfounded half-ghoul.

"What?" Kaneki said, totally confused. But realising that the boy was the same boy he saw in the toilets, worry pooled in him. _He's a ghoul!_

"Hey!" Kaneki shouted, causing the boy to halt and turn to face him.

"What do you want?" The boy asked, annoyed (like most ghouls).

"She's not going to the _'arcade'_ with you." Kaneki bluntly deadpanned as he walked up to the older boy.

"And what makes you say tha-"

Kaneki yanked the ghoul's hand off of Yoriko's arm, and threw it back to his side.

"W-What the hell are you doing?!" A nerve visibly popped on the boy's forehead, and Kaneki realised that the boy just became a ticking time bomb that was ready to explode the moment he got the slightest bit more pissed.

"Probably saving her from being gobbled up." Yoriko gasped and Kaneki manically grinned at the satisfying sight of the boy's purely shocked expression. When he realised the boy wasn't going to say anything, Kaneki continued. "Shocked aren't you? What are you going to do now? A human knows your secret, so what are you going to do? I'm curious."

The boy soon frantically looked around noting that no one was in earshot because of the secluded area they're in. "H-hah, how did you find it out? You're not a ghoul too are you? Why are you working with a pathetic human?"

"I saw you vomiting in the restroom." Kaneki explained.

"So you're not a ghoul! You're just a pitifully observant human." The boy smiled, thinking the two 'humans' in front of him are harmless.

 _No you idiot, I just said I saw you vomiting not that I wasn't a ghoul._

The boy's eyes turned fiery red in a pool of jet black as a bikaku whip-like kagune erupted from his tailbone. "Haha! I was so hungry I couldn't wait to ask you after school you see. I was having trouble finding food and on top of that I had to swallow some shit from the cafeteria. You can't run from me and you can't scream! No one ever comes here!" The boy grinned. "Whachya gonna do? Whachya gonna do? Whachya gonna do when I come for you?"

Yoriko stared with wide eyes at the ghoul before turning to face her bored friend then back to the ghoul that had a brown tail swaying behind him. "Are sure you want to kill us? If two students are found dead here, the CCG will definitely come and dig you out." Yoriko calmly asked, quickly realising she was in no danger with an SS+ ghoul as her ally.

"Aww how cute, but it won't work. Y'know I'm surprised you two can keep a straight face when you know you're gonna die, you have my praise." The ghoul took a step forward before frowning. "What's wrong with you two? Do you know what I am? I'm a ghoul. I'm powerful!"

Kaneki sighed. _The typical ghoul…_ "I would've taken Yoriko's advice because the chances of survival are higher."

The ghoul grew angry. Those two are so confusing! "What are you talking about?!" His eyes were dangerously narrowed and he finally shot his kagune to the shorter half-ghoul.

The kagune however immediately froze, along with its owner. Shocked, confused and terrified, the boy subconsciously retracted his kagune and it shrunk back into his body. As an eyepatch fell to the floor, the horrified ghoul took a step back, followed by another, and another. Breaking eye contact with the eye he believed came from hell itself, the boy wordlessly ran far, farther than his limit.

Once the boy was out of vision, Kaneki bent down and picked up his eyepatch. As he fixed it on, he sighed (he's been doing that a lot lately).

"Well that was a surprise!" Yoriko breathed. "Thank you!"

Kaneki smiled. "You're welcome. Can you do me a favour?"

"Of course." Yoriko smiled, happy she could do something to help her friend.

"Can you tell Hide I'm going home? Literally more things happened in the past fifteen minutes than the past week. I'm tired and I need some rest."

"Oh, okay sure. Get well soon." Yoriko waved as she began to walk away from the half-ghoul.

"Thank you." Kaneki waved in return before an idea popped up in his head.

* * *

Nervousness, anxiety, fear, you name it, he was feeling it. Kaneki swallowed it all up as he rang the doorbell and waited, knowing that the waiting would feel like hours, and it did. The door creaked as it opened revealing a beautiful red-head.

"KANEKI!" Gazel screamed as she jumped into Kaneki's arms and cried, wetting his dress shirt.

Kaneki smiled as he gingerly stroked her hair, ending up ruffling it in the end. Her hair was too soft. "Long time no see Gazel. How have you been?"

"K-Kaneki! I missed you… so much h-happened!" Gazel spoke between sobs, her voice muffled by Kaneki's shirt.

Kaneki took a deep breath, anxiety flooding him but he pushed it down. "Really? Can you tell me about it?"

* * *

They both looked to the floor as Kaneki waited for someone to say something. The only noise he could hear was Mrs Sozaka cooking in the kitchen. Finally, Akihiro spoke up and broke the silence. "Mr Toshio… he was a ghoul."

Of course in a situation like this, one would be shocked. But this wasn't news to Kaneki, obviously, he was the one who beat the guy up and tried to eat him after he tried to eat him. Complicated… I know. But what's also obvious is that Kaneki can't just say 'yeah, I know'. Despite the fact that he wants Gazel to know and accept him for what he is, now isn't the right time… _or maybe it's just that he's scared?_

Hating himself for faking his reaction, Kaneki wore his surprised mask. "H-huh?" Kaneki's eyes grew wide as he almost whispered the word.

Gazel sniffled as she dragged her head up. "H-he attacked me with a group of other ghouls when I came back from my friend's house." Her voice was devoid of any emotion as she recalled the event.

"So then what happened?! How did you escape?" Kaneki knew what was coming, but for some reason he hoped she joined the puzzle pieces together.

"I was saved… again." Gazel's eyes looked like they were staring off into space, a hint of mystery in them. And… _admiration._

"Again…?" Kaneki questioned, egging her to continue and not caring for the consequences.

"It was the same person that saved her from a ghoul in the first war." Akihiro replied for her, making Kaneki turn his head to face him. "He spoke to her."

"… What did he say?" Kaneki was slowly leaving his façade, inwardly hoping they know who he is.

 _Come on. It's obvious, the same hair, the same eye colour. Please join the dots, I want you to realise who I am. You deserve to._

"I don't understand." Gazel murmured, her face still staring off into God knows where.

"She's been mulling over his words ever since, it's even affected school." Akihiro answered with small but noticeable worry in his voice. "He said he wanted her to remember him."

Kaneki put on a questioning face. "But she does remember him… _right_?"

"That's what we were thinking. It doesn't make sense, maybe he thinks she doesn't remember him." Akihiro put his hand on his chin in thought.

 _Come on! Please… it's obvious!_

"Maybe he's something more… maybe he wants you to remember something deeper." Kaneki hinted, getting too impatient.

Gazel looked up and eyed him. "What do you… mean…?"

Kaneki opened his mouth to spill the hint that would probably reveal his secret but was cut off by a certain granny. "Gazel dear! Can you help me out? My back is starting to kill me."

"Alright." Gazel got up and walked out the living room, missing Kaneki's saddened eyes.

"Let's go set the table, I'm sure you would want something." Akihiro said before he got up and stretched, a popping sound coming from his back.

 _N-No! God fucking damn it…_

Conveniently, his phone rang with his previously set alarm. Quickly, Kaneki dismissed the alarm but not quick enough.

Akihiro eyed the phone. "You have a phone? How?"

Kaneki sighed. "I was going to say that I have an apartment and a somewhat proper life now because a friend helped me out, but I got caught up in Gazel's encounter."

"Really?! Congrats, I'll go tell Gazel and gran!" Akihiro was about to leave but Kaneki stopped him.

"I'm so sorry, I need to go. I know I just came, but I'm skipping college." Kaneki realised his fate once the smell of freshly cooked pizza came up his nose.

"You go to college?!" Akihiro was shocked, forgetting the part that he had to go.

"Yes. Alright bye, sent my goodbye to Gazel and Mrs Sozaka too please."

"Wait you're leaving?" Akihiro's spirit died down once he realised his friend had to go.

"Yes, I'm really sorry. I left college in my lunch break so I have to get back before I miss too much of my next lesson." Kaneki saw the sadness in his friend as he went to the front door and opened it.

"You have a phone don't you?" Kaneki asked.

"Yeah… oh!" Akihiro realised as laughed as he scratched his head. "So what is it?"

Kaneki showed the screen of his phone that had his number on his and Akihiro quickly jotted down the numbers on his hand.

"Thanks, Kaneki." Akihiro smiled, excited to call his friend.

"You're welcome, give Gazel my number too please. I'm sure she'll want to talk to me too." Kaneki smiled and waved as he walked out the door.

As Kaneki walked through the pavements one minute later, his phone buzzed with a text message.

 _"Hi!"_

Kaneki immediately regretted giving his phone number to those two.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I have to say though, although it seems like there's no plot in this story, don't worry there is.**

 **Also, please don't forget to vote on my poll please!**


	15. Chapter 15: Shocking Discovery

**Hey guys! I got a review from Dotred saying: "** **Could you do some more kakuja, and also this is a pretty far stretch, but I love torture seen in fanfics so plz try to include one.** **" So I thought 'why not?'. So this chapter will include a seen of torture.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Shocking Discovery**

 _(December 17th, 3:48)_

A crowd formed around trio's one-sided battle, beaming and cheering the game on while some just stared, awe struck.

"Hide! You're up!" Touka looked to her left after slapping the ball to the other side of the court, seeing the blond already in the air.

"Gochya!" Hide smiled, seeing the volleyball come to him. He put his hands together, interlocking his fingers and hammered the ball back to where it came from. The crowd roared, excited at an interesting game of volleyball.

The ball dove back to its owners almost shooting past them and winning the game, but one opponent shot the ball back in the nick of time, much to Hide's frustration. "Don't worry, we've got this one!" Kaneki reassured his friend just as he gracefully kicked the ball right past one of their opponent's face, giving him a tiny cut on the cheek and a shivering body from shock for the sheer power behind the strike. With power came speed, if the bony boy at the back hadn't reacted quick, the ball would've gone off the court giving his enemy the win. Unknown whether it was out of idiocy or bravery, the boy balled his right fist which soon had contact with the ball, giving a brief second of contact before having the boy scream a battle cry that pumped enough adrenalin into him to shoot the ball barely over the net, not without the boy gasping and clutching his right fist is pained agony.

Touka briefly shot Kaneki a glare that silently scolded him for putting too much force to which Kaneki wore an apologetic face before smacking the ball back over the net, with noticeably less force than before. The ball soon came back to them and Touka head-butted the ball into an opponent's face, which surprisingly rebounded off it and headed back their way. The audience gasped, shocked by the brutality of the seemingly sweet girl and the bleeding nose of her victim.

Kaneki raised a white eyebrow and put on a sceptical face.

 _So much for holding back._

Hide was also shocked at the sudden change of pace but had no time to express it as he realised the ball was headed his way. He balled a fist and punched it back, successfully beating the baffled enemy team. The audience cheered and whistled loudly, seemingly forgetting the losers and their injuries.

"Sheesh Touka." Hide scolded. "Talk about brutal."

"That's what I was thinking." Kaneki added, walking up to his two friends and avoiding the familiar red-headed twins in the crowd. "Here I thought we were going to be gentle."

"You weren't so gentle either hypocrite." Touka countered, folding her arms across her chest. "So it's only fair if I have a little fun too."

"Guess that's fair." Kaneki agreed, smiling at Hide's giggle. It had been a really long day, and a really long week. They had gone swimming and even attended races they held there, earning prizes for their victories such as push toys (which Touka liked), restaurant tickets (which Hide liked) and video games (which Kaneki surprisingly liked). They had done plenty of other activities such as seeing who could build the largest sand castle (which Hide won), or who could make the best sand sculpture (which Touka tied with Kaneki – a rabbit sculpture vs a centipede sculpture). Man, they really enjoyed their stay at the beach, even the hotel was pleasant; Kaneki and Touka detected no bad smells from possible bad maintenance and Hide fell asleep the moment the lay on his bed.

 _I'm definitely going to remember this… cherish it and dare not forget it for the life of me._ Kaneki smiled.

 _I'm so glad we can finally enjoy something all together again Kaneki, I'm so happy that you've finally shared the weight on your shoulders and learnt how to enjoy life._ Hide smiled.

 _I thought the beach was a fantasy, and to think I was able to enjoy it with my dearest friends without a care in the world._ Touka smiled.

They stayed like that for a long time, enjoying each other's and the Sun's company. Their toes wriggled in the sand and they all earned themselves a tan, Touka being the one with the darkest one. Hide had gone a bit more Donald Trump while Kaneki's was still slightly pale.

"Alright, it's time to go." Kaneki announced, realising that it was almost time to board the coach back to school. The week he spent at the beach really was one to remember. He got up and stretched, popping a few bones on the way.

"Get off me you prev!" They all turned around and saw a yellow eyed boy 'hanging around' with a girl.

"Come on, we're good friends right?" The boy pulled a bra strap down her shoulder and she yelped. "Haha, you're so cute. Remember when I lent you the money for a hotel room? Ya still haven't given it back."

"I-I'll pay you back I promise… you just gave it to me yesterday-"

"I told you to pay back soon, well, this is 'soon'. Do you have the money?" The boy interrupted.

"N-no."

The boy smiled pervertedly. "Well then, you'll just have to pay a different way." He began to drag the girl away despite her cries of protest. No one bothered to help the girl because there wasn't really anyone left at the beach. All the students had left to go back to school. But for the few people that were there mumbled insults towards the boy like 'perv…' or 'he's so cheap…' but were quickly stopped by his glare coming their way.

Kaneki sighed, scratching the back of his head. Normally he wouldn't care (as cold as it sounds) but he was curious as to why that boy was here. "I'll deal with it." He simply said as he started to walk forward. "You guys go get changed and meet me up at the exit."

"Sure?" Touka asked, wondering why he would want to help strangers.

"Yeah, I won't take long."

"Make sure not to kill anybody 'kay?" Hide teased, earning a glare from his white-haired friend before he rolled his eyes and carried on walking to the perverted boy.

"Where are we going? I need to go home!" The girl's wrist was starting to ache from the boy's tight grip.

"You mean back to the hotel room I paid for?" The boy corrected.

"I'll pay you back I swear! I just need more ti-" The girl tried to reason with the boy. He turned around and the girl saw they were in front of a full pub in the beach.

"You've had a drink before right?" The boy asked innocently.

"Well… yeah. But mum said not to go down that path-"

"Great!" He grabbed her wrist again, pulling her to the entrance of the pub.

"W-wait! I can't go! Besides I'm only wearing a bikini!" She protested, trying to pull away from him.

"That's going to be the least of your worries." The boy answered just before a familiar white-head blocked the entrance.

"Correction, that's going you be the least of _your_ worries." Kaneki crossed his arms to make it clear that he has no intension of letting him them pass.

"Huh? Who are-wait you're the-!" The boy breathed, flashbacks stinging his mind.

"Yes, I am indeed 'the'. Now if you wouldn't mind, 'the' would like you to let that girl go while he asks you a few questions." Kaneki sarcastically answered, expecting his little reunion to go this way.

Relief flooded the girl, though she didn't show it with the remaining fear that came along with the confusion of the situation.

"Why should I? What are you going to do about it?" The boy dared, subconsciously tightening his grip on the girl's hand. "You can't do anything right now." They was an unspoken 'you can't do anything with humans around'.

"That's where you're wrong. I can easily beat your ass right now if I wanted to. Instead I thought you might want the softer approach and avoid choking on your own blood. I just want to ask you a few questions is all." Kaneki's expression didn't change, adding to the fear in the girl's heart. She honestly thought this guy was going to make her eat dirt if she got in his way as well.

Much to Kaneki's surprise, the arrogance level in the boy had lowered, allowing his this brain to analyse his situation. He slowly let go of the girl's wrist. She frantically looked between Kaneki and the boy repeatedly before taking off, hoping it was the right choice to do.

"Good job, at least you've realised that arrogance won't get you anywhere in life. Seems like last time was proof of that." Kaneki smiled, though it showed no meaning.

"What do you want?" The boy asked, not daring to put any malice in his voice.

"What are you doing here?" Kaneki almost immediately asked, realising he might be making his friends wait too long.

The boy rolled his eyes. "What does it look like genius? I'm having fun at the beach."

"I think our definitions of 'fun' clearly differ, care to explain what your 'fun' means? Because I don't recall leading a human girl into a pub mostly populated by ghouls comes under the definition of 'fun'." Kaneki replied, amused by the widening of the boy's yellow eyes.

"What are you talking about?" The boy asked genuinely confused, much to Kaneki's surprise.

 _Wait, he doesn't know there's more ghouls in there than humans? What? Does he have a bad sense of smell or something?_

"Answer this, what were you planning to do with that girl?"

"Make her pay for not paying me back." The boy answered simply as if his answer wasn't vague or obvious.

This time it was Kaneki's turn to roll his eyes. "No shit Sherlock. I figured that much idiot."

The boy let out a 'tch' in annoyance but held his tongue after remember what the boy in front of him is. "I was going to get her drunk and the have fun… in the bedroom." He answered, turning his head away from an unexpected blush.

Kaneki raised his eyebrows in surprise and his face made a 'seriously?' expression. _Wow. I knew he was a perverted idiot but this is on a whole new level._

The door to the pub opened and a group of people (which Kaneki soon sniffed out to be ghouls) came out.

"Those were some cute chicks!"

"Yeah! We should totally keep some as pets!"

"You're right, they are livestock after all."

"Hah, how didn't we think of that?"

They boy, not wanting to be in any part of this, turned his head back to the white-haired ghoul, except there was no white hair there or anyone for that matter.

 _What? Where'd he go?_

He did however spot two almost identical red-heads come out of the bar chatting idly.

"Hey look! There're two of the cute livestock here!" One of the ghouls shouted getting the attention of the rest of the ghouls as well as the two girls.

"Yeah, you're right! Let's keep them now, maybe they'll come in handy just like the other little red-head we've got." The other one laughed, and began walking towards the two, who had stopped chatting idly and had finally taken notice to their surrounding danger.

The ghoul grabbed Emi's arm as she yelped. Her sister tried to help her but found herself to be in a similar situation.

The boy smiled at the scene, amused by how cute the twins looked but also disappointed at how the human girls were so weak and fragile.

"What idiots…" He mumbled at the girls as they yelped in unison, turning to leave he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"What did ya just say punk? Something along the lines of 'those idiots' right?" The rest of the ghouls stopped and turned around.

With the pissed off expressions on their faces, the boy could tell they didn't take getting insulted easily. The yellow-eyed ghoul raised an eyebrow in confusion just before realisation hit him like a bucket of bricks. _Oh shit!_ "No, you missund-"

He instead was met with a fist to his face, sending him to the ground and holding his bleeding, fractured nose.

"Hey guys, I think we should teach this punk a lesson." The ghoul that just punched his face proposed, making the rest of the ghouls nod their head in agreement. "You see, we don't take being insulted lightly kid. We'll make sure you swallow those words."

The twins however used the perfectly timed distraction to literally run for their lives.

* * *

Kaneki sighed as he just shot a glare passed a girl who was staring right at his abs. As least it wasn't as much attention as he got back at the shore. People were literally staring at him the whole time, whispering and pointing at the two weird aspects of his body: white hair, black nails. People started calling him Goth boy, which really gave Touka and Hide a good laugh. The nickname even spread to his classmates that were also at the beach. It wasn't just his winning tennis team that was having a good time there. Two teams tied over and over again so both teams ended up going to the beach. This obviously resulted in Kaneki, Touka and Hide to all agree on joining a different not-so-bad tennis team.

Kaneki's thought process was interrupted however when he heard loud footsteps and scruffy breathing behind him. Turning around, he saw two familiar red heads running his way.

"… Hey isn't that-?" Emi asked once she'd looked up from their short break for air.

"Yeah… HEY NEKI-SAN!" Eri screamed, running to the confused half-ghoul.

"What happened?" Kaneki asked as soon as Eri ran up to him, followed by Emi.

"There were these people from the pub… they tried to take me and sis away but… there was a boy there and he got taken away instead." Eri answered between deep puffs of air, followed by a nod from Emi.

This brought Kaneki into deep thinking. Well, he had already been thinking from the start, this only got him thinking more. Why would a human pub in a beach be mostly populated by ghouls? It's suspicious to say the least, you don't find a ton of ghouls hanging out in a human pub at the beach every day, and a place like the beach is where you could easily be caught mind you. Unless… it wasn't a human pub. Well even if that was the case then why would a ghoul open up a pub, and in a beach of all places? A coffee shop is reasonable but not a pub that would reek of alcohol. Making his mind up, Kaneki decided to unravel the mystery. "Go to the second set of changing rooms near the front of the beach. Touka and Hide should be waiting for me there. Tell them to wait longer."

The twins looked at each other with questionable looks.

"Oh, and you should be fine now. Don't worry, no one will hurt you now." Kaneki realised his lack of interest in their safety, and hoped a smile should be enough reassurance.

"T-Thanks Neki-san." Emi breathed, somewhat relieved that short nightmare is over.

"We owe you…" Eri finished, grabbing Kaneki's hands in hers and shaking them repeatedly.

 _Lol. I didn't even do anything._ Kaneki inwardly laughed at their stupidity.

"Good to see both of you are fine." Kaneki replied, keeping the now amused smile on his face. "By the way, what were you two doing in a pub anyway?"

The twins looked at each other briefly. "We saw you going in that direction so we decided to follow." Eri started.

"We thought you went in the pub so we decided to check." Emi finished, making Kaneki roll his eyes.

"Okay whatever, just go tell Hide and Touka what I told you."

The twins quickly nodded and rushed off to Kaneki's given location, while Kaneki began to jog to where they had just came from. Upon reaching the entrance to the pub, Kaneki realised that nothing was out of the ordinary, just a seemingly innocent pub door.

Opening the door was a different story however. Everyone was drunk in the pub, humans and ghouls alike. The ghouls had glasses of red liquid (which Kaneki soon realised to be blood wine) and the humans had the regular alcohol. How the humans didn't suspect a think however baffled the half-ghoul. What if a human were to try and order the blood wine? Would the bartender (that Kaneki realised was a ghoul) be like 'Sorry, this beverage is only for members' or something? Actually, that would make sense.

Kaneki took a step in before realising he's still half-naked with a pair of trunks as his only piece of clothing. Looking around, Kaneki saw that most people were also in their swimwear so the half-ghoul decided not to think anything of it.

Walking in, Kaneki took a seat at one of the free bar stools as one of the bartender came to him soon after.

"Can I take your order sir?" The female ghoul asked, smiling.

"Can I have a glass of that please?" Kaneki pointed to what was a bottle of blood wine, which was stored at the bottom of the shelf behind the bartender.

"I'm sorry sir, but only members are allowed to drink from that beverage."

Kaneki almost burst out laughing. _LOL. I knew it._

"Password: Ghoul." Kaneki replied in a whisper, amused at how the bartender widened her hazel eyes.

"I-I'm sorry sir?" She replied, unsure whether the man in front of her was really a ghoul or not.

"I'd like to order some blood wine please." Kaneki replied, breaking things down for the thick woman.

She stuttered, not being exposed to this situation before. "Your eyes please sir." The bartender composed herself, weary at the white-haired boy.

Kaneki looked left and right, failing to see any snooping humans. He sighed and scrubbed his right eye, putting on the lazy act while he took off his eye patch and activated his left eye. The bartender smiled, her uneasiness gone as she realised he newest customer was a ghoul. Kaneki deactivated his eye and stopped scrubbing his right eye as he fixed his eyepatch back on, internally sighing when he realise the bartender didn't think of his lazy act as anything out of the ordinary.

She went to fetch one of the bottles along with a wine glass and returned to the patiently waiting half-ghoul. "I didn't expect to see a new ghoul here." She mused as she poured the shining red liquid in the glass.

Honestly, Kaneki was surprised on how dense all the humans here are. They're either dancing wildly on the dance floor or laughing and hiccupping at the same time, too drunk to pick up any conversation other than their own.

"A new ghoul? You mean this pub only has regulars?" Kaneki realised he could easily get information out of this chick.

"Yes, the manager of this pub, Huguo-san, is really good friends with the human owner of the beach, so he was allowed to open a pub here. Huguo-san has a lot of friends and connections so this pub is where a lot of ghouls go frequently."

Kaneki thought for a moment. He swore he'd hear that name before…

Kaneki took a sip of the blood wine, noting how sweet it tastes. "Oh, and I guess the human are either stupid or oblivious or both."

The hazel eyed ghoul giggled. "Most end up as food anyway, or research subjects."

Kaneki's eyes widened. "Research subjects?"

"Oh…" The bartender realised what slipped out of her mouth. "Well I might as well tell you anyway. This pub is the base of some really handsome scientists. They're apparently making 'A new being' or something like that. Cool right?"

Kaneki's already widened eyes widened even more before they narrowed. "Yeah… sounds cool." _Well, that was a rather interesting discovery._

"So what's this new being like?" Kaneki felt like he was speaking to Itori for information, well, a dumber version of Itori that doesn't know the big mistake she's making by sharing this _very_ valuable information.

The woman cocked her head to the side. "Are you interested?" She asked.

Kaneki swirled the remaining blood in his cup, before he smiled. "Yes I am. I've never heard of something more interesting." Kaneki replied, almost innocently.

The woman returned the smile. "Well, I'm sure the manager would love a new handsome recruit."

Kaneki beamed, but not in the way the woman thought. "Really? I can join?"

"Yes, you can help, but if you're really strong then you'll be of more help. We also reward our recruits, so don't worry."

Kaneki was laughing on the inside. How couldn't he? He was literally just invited to be a parasite, breaking them from the inside out.

"Thank you. So how do I join?" Kaneki smiled, wider than he intended.

"I'll call my colleague now, to show you around." She pulled out a phone that had a cover saying 'Kagakusha' in a spooky pink font. Scrolling through her contacts lists, she found the number she was looking for and called it. The other end picked up relatively quickly. "Hey."

"Hello, is there something wrong?" The other end sounded like a female in her late teens.

"I've got a new member here, he needs to be shown around." The bartender replied.

"'Kay, I'll be there soon." The other end hung up with a cut-off yawn, ending the quick phone conversation.

"Where will I be shown around?" Kaneki asked, feeling butterflies in his stomach from excitement.

The bartender pointed to a 'Staff Only' door.

"But I'm not a staff member." Kaneki replied, wanting her to elaborate.

"That's not really a staff room. Well, I guess it is depending on how you look at it. There's a specific hallway that would lead to-"

The staff door suddenly opened, revealing a short pink-haired young adult. She turned her head towards the ghoul bartender then to Kaneki before smiling. She walked over to when Kaneki was seated and rested her elbows of the counter. "I've gotta say, you've really got us a good looking chap eh?"

Kaneki had a feeling he wouldn't like her. Just her weird Southern American accent was making him cringe.

"What's your name?" She asked, keeping her smile.

"Bogga Hogga." Kaneki replied, smiling in an effort not to burst out laughing.

She raised an eyebrow at the weird name. "Really?"

Kaneki scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I don't know what my mum was thinking when she named me. Haha."

"Alright then, let's get you up and runnin'" She stopped leaning and offered a hand to Kaneki, which he took with an amused smile.

He turned around to look at his empty glass, then back to the smiling bartender who winked.

"Don't worry, it's on the house."

"Thank you." Kaneki smiled as he was being dragged to the 'Staff Only' door by the pink-head.

 _How was I planning to pay for that anyway?_

* * *

It had been five minutes since they had taken the 'specific' hallway which led them to a set of stairs only leading down.

Their footsteps echoed as they descended further and further down the stairwell which clawed at Kaneki's patience. He's definitely going to be sent six feet under by Touka after making her wait this long. "Is this ever going to end?"

The girl giggled and wrapped her arm around Kaneki's bare shoulders, missing or simply ignoring Kaneki angrily furrowed eyebrows. "You're really funny. But we're almost there."

 _What was so funny about that?_

 _Better question, why did she need to put her arm on my shoulder?_

Kaneki was right when he decided he didn't like this chick, especially when she put some of her weight on the half-ghoul.

"Can you stop leaning on me please?" Kaneki asked, his voice and face holding no emotion.

"Aww don't be like that!" Just as she finished her sentence, a metal door presented itself in front of them. "Oh, we're here."

"You don't say." Kaneki replied sarcastically. "I thought it was the restroom."

The girl burst out laughing. "I already like you! No one brought me to laugh as much as you. I hope we get to know each other more." She began to search her pockets and soon pulled out a card which she swiped on a card scanner.

 _I hope not._

The door opened, revealing a surprisingly spacious area that leads to various rooms, most being labs. There were a lot of ghoul walking up and about, wearing white lab coats that wore a simple logo with 'Kagakusha' written on it in a spooky green font, almost Frankenstein. Some were in labs separated by doors surrounded by glass allowing others to see the microscopic experiments they were doing. The amount of ghouls there wasn't too much, roughly thirty-five or so.

The pink-head began to walk forward, signalling Kaneki to follow. She led Kaneki to various labs where the experiments take place. Kaneki couldn't be more bored, he couldn't help but yawn at least once every ten seconds. Finally they came to a metal door with no glass around it, so there was no way to see inside. Except there really was no need to, because a sign in front of the door read: 'The New Being'.

"This is where they keep the 'New Being'." The pink haired ghoul presented, causing the half-ghoul to roll his eyes.

"Seriously? Who would've known?"

"You're so cute when you're sarcastic!" She replied, giggling.

"And you're so annoying when you state the obvious." Kaneki countered, making the girl put her hand to her chest.

"That hurt Bogga-chan." She gave Kaneki puppy eyes.

"So am I allowed to see what's inside or what?" Kaneki ignored her 'hurt', starting a less trivial conversation.

"I think so."

"You think so?" Kaneki echoed, urging her to elaborate.

"But who cares, I show it to every new guy anyway. By the way they just recently finished it. They just finished stitched the head on about twenty minutes ago."

"What?" Kaneki asked, confused.

 _Stitching the head on? What does that mean?_

"You'll see." She brought out several keys hooked together by a key chain. Looking through the keys, she picked out a seemingly normal looking silver one. She plotted the key into the keyhole and twisted it left until a clicking sound could be heard. She smiled and twisted the door knob to open the door and enter, signalling Kaneki to follow. Curiosity got the best out of him as he followed the teenage girl in, only to widen his eyes in pure and utter shock.

"Behold. I call it Frankenstein 2.0."

Kaneki stared at a human sized monster. It was literally a beast in a man's clothing, except not really because it was naked but didn't have any sex organs. Well, it was hard to tell because of all the kagune pieces sewed on its body, though it was hard to call it a body. All sorts of body bits and pieces from God knows what species, human or ghoul, were sown together forming some sort of body shape. On top of the 'makeshift' body, kagune parts from all four categories were sown on in an armour-like fashion. Its left arm was armed with ukaku shards spiking out from its flesh starting from its upper left shoulder blade. Its right arm was encased with two strips of koukaku armour swirling down from the lower right shoulder blade. Its left leg had two small rinkaku tendrils spiralling down from the left side of the waist. Its right leg had a single bikaku tail swirling down from its tailbone.

 _What the actual fuck?!_

"It's still not complete yet though. We don't even know if it has a conscious. The four types of kagune you see on its limbs are amour."

 _How many times can one state the obvious in a span of three minutes?_

"It wouldn't be able control them, it's just stuck on its body. So we still need to implant a kakuhou sack into it. Hell, they might even implant all four if that works."

"How does it work?" Kaneki recovered from his shocked state and decided to get as much information out of the bitch before leaping forward and destroying the abomination, who knows what it might do if it comes to life?

"It should work with instinct."

"No, I meant how it comes to life." _Obviously something like that would run on instinct. How obvious can she get?_

"I think they were planning on making it come to life Frankenstein style. Pretty cool huh?"

"How the hell would that work? Frankenstein was only fiction. And besides, there's no lightning on the beach." Kaneki never took his eyes off of the sleeping beast.

"Science makes everything possible. We can use normal, high voltage electricity. I can't wait!" She beamed.

 _How the fuck would something like this 'bring order to this world'? What a bunch of lunatics._

Before Kaneki could open his mouth to reply, a quiet, muffled scream reached their ears. Kaneki looked to his right where the sound came from and realised it was from the room to the right, which he had also seen as having no windows to see into.

"What was that?" Kaneki asked, once he'd realised the girl to his left wasn't going to explain the muffled scream.

"That's the interrogation room. It's where we interrogate traitors or spies." She answered.

"Do you have those frequently?"

"Not really. But today they're interrogating a kid."

Kaneki looked to the pink haired girl. "What would a kid have that you guys want?"

"Information."

Kaneki grew really annoyed at this girl. "Really?! Wow!"

The girl laughed. "Just kidding! Just kidding!"

Kaneki rolled his eyes.

"She knows the whereabouts of someone important or something like that, I don't really know. They never told me."

Kaneki raised an eyebrow in confusion. "So am I allowed to see the interrogation?"

"I don't see why not." The girl turned around and exited the room with Kaneki following her. After locking the door, they walked to the door emitting muffled screams and groans of agony. The pink haired ghoul knocked twice on the door and waited for a reply. Once she had heard a 'Come in', she twisted the door knob and opened the door. Before the door could be fully opened, Kaneki's eyes fully widened.

He looked at a torture scene, not a fucking interrogation scene. Before his eyes was a bruised, beaten and scratched body suspended in the air by ropes that were tied from the victims wrists. The victim was blindfolded and a medical mask was strapped to the mouth, muffling any sound. The clothes were torn and jagged with a blood-stained crimson dye to them. A small pool of blood was formed beneath the victim's feet from continuous drops of blood trailing down from cuts or small gashes.

The pink-haired ghoul beside him began a conversation of some sort with the 'interrogator' but Kaneki didn't hear. He couldn't hear anything, see anything or feel anything but rage.

 _Gazel…_

* * *

 **BOOM! SUSPENSE! I'm so sorry for the cliff hanger (not! Muhahaha) but at least I wrote a 5300+ worded chapter right? Anyway, I'll leave the poll on my profile page open for one more week so don't forget to vote!**


	16. Chapter 16: Disappearance

**I'M SO SORRY! I know I haven't updated in forever! My terrible procrastination on top of my school work really didn't allow me to spare any time to write the next chapter. But anyway, I tried my best to produce a good chapter for you guys.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Disappearance**

His body began visibly shaking, breathing erratic, eyes twitching madly, until he began hyperventilating without warning.

 ** _Gazel-chan_**

 ** _My fault_**

 ** _Unprotected_**

A pink haired girl that Kaneki had already forgotten about began shaking him, though he didn't feel a thing, just hate. Even the sounds around him became distorted.

" ** _B_** **0** _g_ _ **G**_ **a-** ** _c_** _H_ ** _n_**?"

 ** _Kill_**

" _W_ _ **h**_ **t'$** w ** _rO_** _n_ g?"

 ** _Revenge!_**

" **A** _r3_ _ **y**_ 0 **u** **4|** ** _r_** _1g_ **#t?!** "

 ** _ERADICATE!_**

Kaneki fell to the floor, saliva flying out of his mouth from his hyperventilation and salvation to avenge!

Kaneki brought his dark-nailed hands to his head, clawing at his pale skin enough for it to bleed before he threw his head back and screamed. That scream however soon turned into laughter, ever so slowly as the two other conscious people in the room stood their ground, unaware of the impending danger.

Kaneki cocked his head at the 'interrogator', an impossibly wide, manic, insane, downright crazy grin forming on his face. The 'Interrogator' was taken aback, naïvely questioning 'What the hell is wrong with this albino kid?!'

"Bogga-chan! What are you doing? Have you never seen someone wounded like this before?" She stupidly took a step forward, reaching her hand out. "It's alright, not-"

Before another brain cell so much as moved an inch in her brain, her hand was ripped clean off her wrist.

"-everyone is accustomed to gore. Yo- AarrARARAGAggaAggG-hhhhhhhhh!" Just as the pain hit her, she looked down from the horrified face of an 'interrogator' and a suddenly vanished white-haired ghoul to an equally as vanished right hand. The skin was visibly torn and jagged along with the flesh, the bones were broken, sticking out a couple inches from the initial tear.

Her body smashed against a tray of utensils as she fell, eyes bulging and uninjured hand clawing and scratching her face in agony.

As the screams finally died down, quiet laughter could be heard. The 'interrogator' spun his head around to see a small body crouched on all fours, the head was tilted an irregular ninety degrees with a downright insane grin slapped on. But what caught his eyes however was the increasingly growing centipede-like 'things' coming out of his fucking back. Slowly, inch by inch they grew. Heads formed on the four centipede bodies that were soon equipped with venomous fangs and drilling legs.

 **"Hahaha, fuck. I'm so crazy. L00000L. Huh? Wait. U da 1 wh0 hurt her r!ght?"** Kaneki's smile somehow got bigger when he noticed the 'interrogator's' stiffened form.

Kaneki slowly began to crawl forward, his head returning back to its natural place as the all too familiar mask grew over his crazed face. Purple scales began sprouting from his skin, hardening into plates stronger that steel. This time, the scales covered up to seventy percent of his body, leaving out the front of his torso and waist area where his four centipede 'pets' grew.

Kaneki's clawed hand slammed into the tiled floor, effortlessly creating a crater from its destructive force. Suddenly, Kaneki's visible mouth dropped open letting out an inhuman scream of mixed emotions. The now fully formed 'pets' began squirming about, clashing their fangs together and skittering across the small corner where Kaneki lay on all fours.

The ear piercing scream seemed to bring the unnamed 'interrogator' out of his daze as he ran past the stunned pink-head as straight to the door. What seemed like a successful escape was abruptly rendered unsuccessful when he saw the door he was just about to open obliterate along with a considerable amount of debris from the wall.

The smoke cloud that surrounded him began to invade his lungs and choke him. "H-holy fuck… what the fuck was that? Is this some kind of joke? Does he know her or someth- *COUGH COUGH*"

Blindly walking in the direction he believed was opposite to where that mutant half-centipede half-ghoul boy was while waving his arms about in an attempt to clear the thick smoke, he began to hear screams from various different voices occupied by the sound of tearing flesh then chokes.

It was obvious what was happening. Nothing but common sense was needed to know that.

Fearing it would be him next, the 'interrogator' ran back into the room. There was no way he's going out to where that 'thing' was.

He crouched down into a ball at the corner of the room, finally realising that his ability to do anything was that of a sack of potatoes.

His breathing slowed down, and he began to rub small pieces of debris and dirt on him. That thing may be strong, hella strong, but its brains is probably mash potatoes right? If it couldn't smell him, then it wouldn't come after him.

The man sat there, with only the ability to breathe and pray. The blood showers continued as he faintly began to see all his colleagues dissemble into a pile of their own body parts, then reassembled in a creative way by the abomination of a boy. What was sicker was the fact that the boy seemed to enjoy it, giggling and laughing at the different creations he was able to make.

The interrogator was able to do at least one more thing: cry. He sobbed in his own trousers and he clung to them, wrapping his arms around them even tighter than before in an attempt to become even the slightest bit smaller.

As if his prayers were answered, a small light shone from his left. Turning to look at it in the hopes it was an angel, he saw the room to his left through a damaged, broken wall.

The biggest sense of relief he had ever felt in his life felt so good. Not because he was able to get to a slightly safer residence, but because the room was home to a particular science experiment. One that would need to successfully work now more than ever before.

The 'interrogator' slowly made his way to the hole in the wall, ducking as a flying pinky toe came his way. "Fucking hell… Jesus Christ… who the hell is that boy?!" He couldn't help but whisper those words as he climbed through the wall, instantly running to the various cables and switches. He found himself dancing around the room, frantically trying to set everything up.

Red, green, yellow, black, and grey cables flew everywhere as there were put into place. Buttons and switched were flipped, pressed and shoved into place before the 'interrogator' ran to the last lever. The lever that would hopefully begin to charge enough electricity in the generator below it to electrify the beast in the room to life. It was a simple concept, except the process wasn't simple at all. This thing had obviously not been used before, which is never a good sign when you need it to work the most. The only thing that comes next is to fight fire with fire.

" **H** ** _AH_** _A_ **H** A _H_ _ **AH**_ A **H** A ** _!i_** _!_ "

Using the psychotic laugh as his queue, the man shoved the leaver down. Almost instantly, he was blasted back into the wall, the force being enough to send him through it and give him a broken back. He landed roughly back into the 'interrogation' room. As his eyesight wavered and the pain in his back began to grow, he faintly saw the 'Frankenstein 2.0' being engulfed in blue and yellow electricity. The sight was beautiful, even in his situation. The harmony of the two colours dulled it's background and slowly but successfully brought the monster to life.

Abruptly, the show came to an end and the injured ghoul was almost as abruptly reminded of his dire situation.

…

…

…

But nothing happened.

The demolished underground facility was eerily quiet, no screams, and no sounds of flesh being torn or eaten. Not even a sound from the recently revived monster.

Rubble fell and closed the hole in the wall he just recently made, along with the other one beside it. Now his sight and entrance to the room was denied, even though he doubted he could move in his situation.

He began to heavily breathe as the energy was slowly leaving his body. The only sound he could hear was the sound of his own jagged breaths as he hopelessly looked around him slowly, agonised by the eerie lack of action in the facility holding two creatures without their leashes.

Anxiety took the better of him as he slowly but painfully sat up, his field of vision increasing by doing so. However, the only two things that his widened field of view allowed him to see was his dead pink-haired colleague and a tattered and bruised girl. The girl he tortured who was long forgotten in the cluster fuck of event that just recently transpired in the last five minutes.

 _Looks like you will be useful after all._ The 'interrogator' thought as he slowly dragged himself towards her limp and fragile body lying helplessly on the floor. _Not in the way I expected though._

The 'interrogator' didn't waste a second as he bit into the closest part of her body that was available to him; her calf.

The girl immediately woke up and screamed. Her reflexes caused her to take her leg back from the zombie-looking man's jaws, except that wasn't the smartest decision. A sizeable chunk of red meat ripped off of her leg, causing her to scream a second time.

Not bothering to chew it, he just swallowed, and slowly crawled forward for another bite.

He would get his desire if not for the animal-like snarl he heard behind him. Slowly turning around, he saw the boy just a metre behind him. He was on all fours and didn't have his centipede pets behind him, but six regular kagune tendrils instead. His mask was visibly crumbling, but ever so slowly. Only his limbs were covered in scales, though there were also fading slowly.

He snarled again, and bared his teeth as he slowly inched forward towards the terrified and horrified 'interrogator'.

"Stop! NO! Don't come closer!"

The boy didn't listen, for he only kept advancing. The 'interrogator' inched back, forgetting his back pain and focusing on getting the heck away from him. The half-ghoul stopped, but his kagune didn't. Two of them carried on forward, aiming for the heart.

In a panic, the 'interrogator' leaped back, and bumped into the horrified girl slowly whimpering behind him. She let out a sudden yelp in response causing the boy to suddenly freeze. His kagune hung in the air and his body didn't move a muscle.

The other two froze in response as well, both waiting for the white-haired ghoul's next move.

The half-ghoul slowly began to retract his kagune, but also began to inch forward.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHAT ARE YOU?! AN ANIMAL?!" The 'interrogator' suddenly burst out, unable to hold anything in any longer, also resulting in a delayed wet-patch to appear between his legs.

The boy got started in response, but hissed at the man soon after. He suddenly sent his kagune after the man's throat only to stop and hesitate at the little girl's scream.

Now it was obvious what the fuck is wrong with the white-haired freak. Joining all the dots, it was clear he wanted to kill the man probably by eating his heart in front of him but not lay a finger on the girl. The reason why the girl was so precious to him was beyond the 'interrogator', but he couldn't care less in this situation. All he cared about was getting out alive, and he would do just about anything to do that.

The man grabbed the girl's arm and yanked her small body in front of him placing his hand on her neck. "Come any closer and the bitch is dead."

The white-haired boy didn't react, though he did react on the inside. All the blind mess of hatred, sick fun, and revenge slowly washed away, being replaced with the slightly more sane emotion of worry. His stomach was full, but it didn't feel full of the feast he had just eaten, it felt full of bricks.

But why?

He didn't know why.

Hell, he was asleep.

 _What's going on?_

 _What the fuck?_

 _I felt so sleepy so I just took a nap right?_

 _Or wait, I think I was pissed._

 _But still…_

 _Then why am I on all fours?_

 _Then why am I so hesitant and worried?_

 _Why do I feel so full of shit?_

 _Why is my fucking kagune out?!_

Vision and consciousness returned to the 'sleeping' boy as he saw a sight he was not prepared for. Of course he wasn't prepared, he doesn't even know what the hell just happened himself. His memory of what just transpired was almost all lost, just like how he forgot who he was or who he loved for his lonely CCG life.

The Kagune retracted back into its owner's body. The speed of the mask and armour crumbling increased, until it all faded away, revealing a shocked and bewildered young man.

No one moved.

No one dared to move.

If any of them moved, the consequences of them doing so would be highly regrettable.

"….What?" Kaneki managed to splutter. "…The actual fuck?" He blinked several times, as if he didn't believe the image before him of a half dead looking girl and a terrified man holding said girl hostage was genuine.

In the confusion and soon the realisation of his situation, he was unable to hear the very dull sparks and lose cables flickering in the background.

"…Gazel?" Kaneki asked, slowly inching his hand forward. Everything was taking forever to happen. Everything seemed to be in slow motion.

"GAZEL! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The 'interrogator' shook from the sudden outburst and felt a sharp pain engulf his body from his suddenly moved, broken spine. He began to strangle the girl's neck to relief some of the pain his broken back was giving him.

Working on instinct, Kaneki leapt forward and yanked the hand off the girl's neck and threw it back to its owner, smacking his head. The 'interrogator' rolled over and fell unconscious, unknown whether it was from a concussion or the pain. Either way, he stupidly lay on a pile of rubble next to the girl's bleeding leg.

Now everything's going so fast. Kaneki had no idea what's going on. Who would? He just 'woke up' in the middle of a hostage situation in a demolished facility and is just grasping the clues of what just happened.

…

 _It happened again._

 _Fuck…_

 _FUCK!_

Kaneki scrunched his face in anger of himself.

 _How hard is it to fucking control yourself?_

 _Do you fucking have anger issues or something?!_

Slow but gradual tears began forming in his eyes, his now evenly coloured light-grey eyes. When the pool of water became too heavy, the tears gracefully fell, leaving a trail of water behind as they rolled across his cheeks.

 _I failed, again._

 _Over and over. It never stops._

 _Déjà vu every fucking time._

He slowly began to realise the presence of the little girl in front of him, and the significance of her being at that.

They make eye contact.

Terrified, shocked, disbelieving merlot eyes meet equally as shocked grey eyes, that no longer hold their dull, smoky atmosphere but a clear, transparent view of deep regret.

Five seconds pass with no movement, nothing. Not a blink.

Time was very cruel, inching forward slowly. Making every second seem like an eternity for the two.

But it was overwhelming. The series of events was too much to handle:

.

.

.

"BWAAHHHHHH!" Gazel jumped into Kaneki's arms and began sobbing like a child who broke their favourite toy. "It hurts!"

Kaneki, whose brain still didn't comprehend the sudden change in atmosphere, carried on staring where the little girl's eyes once were.

"I-I… I was only shopping! Gran-ny said to buy some p-potatoes to make mash p-p-potatoes for dinner! I DIDN'T HURT ANYONE I SWEAR! B-but they still t-took me." Gazel was struggling to find the words. Her poor little throat was too dry make a smooth sentence. "I didn't-t know w-why, but th-they hung meby m-my wrists. Then it hurt. It really hurt! They cut me and h-hit me! It REALLY hurt! They askedme wheresome Mukade person-ghoul-guywas. I didn't know! What was I supposed to do?! But they didn't believe me! So they hit me and hit me and hit me more and more and m-m-more!"

The half-ghoul slowly looked down to the girl crying in his chest. She looked so weak. So fragile. On the verge of being broken. He could mistake her for another girl if not for his guilt and regret.

Subconsciously, he began rubbing her head, trying to comfort her as she cried more and more,explainingher painful experience. But he couldn't help but dread the fact that his tainted bloodied hands are corrupting this innocent girl. Her innocence is too pure for his filthy, dirty, polluted hands to stain it.

In fear of doing so, he stopped rubbing her head. The little girl looked up, and met his tear stained, now mismatched eyes.

"I'm a ghoul."

That was all that came out of his mouth, it came out without him even realising it.

They continued staring, except Gazel shifted her eyes to Kaneki's left one. She dazed into the blood red vortex in his eyes, and wondered on the glowing scarlet webs forming from the eye.

Despite its clear predatory look, they was no venom in it. Nothing but different shades of colour was visible in the eye. Unlike the demon that ripped her sister to sheds years ago, this eye didn't hold the bloodlust and hunger, it held something else. It held broken resolve. Resolve that wasn't quite able to piece itself back together again.

His eyes glistened and she could see buried under the rubble of sadness and sorrow, was determination that just needed to be freed from its restraint.

.

.

.

"Yeah, you are."

Kaneki looked down and closed his eyes. After a short moment of clarity in his mind, he re-opened them, facing the dusty floor.

Gazel continued to look at the white-haired ghoul. "And I can tell, that it's a big problem for you."

"It is."

"Then I guess you believe that it's a big problem for others too?"

"… Yes."

Gazel shrunk, and her eyes saddened.

"No…"

Kaneki looked up, almost as if he expected her to say that.

"For me the answer is no. But that answer is purely influenced by my experiences with you. I doubt you understand that people who have a strong and stable bond won't break it because of this problem. It is a problem no doubt, and will drive others to hurt, hate and hunt you. But that doesn't apply to everyone Kaneki."

Kaneki smiled. "I heard that before Gazel. Well, something along those lines, but the same thing happens. It still remains a problem, a very big one at that. Look around. It's a problem that put you into this situation, and killed hundreds of others, granted some of them deserved it."

"Yes, it is a big problem, but not one that outweighs others. You still have a liveable life, and this problem doesn't change that. There are other problems right now that outweigh this one right now."

Gazel's leg had already made its own little swimming pool beneath it, without any of them noticing. Until now.

The pain began to resettle itself in Gazel's leg, as if it took a temporary leave.

She squinted her eyes and softly moaned, causing Kaneki to instantly start making a makeshift bandage out of torn fabric from Gazel's trousers.

As he finished tying a knot to hold the first aid bandage in place, Gazel slowly drifted onto his shoulder, unconscious.

Gently resting the unconscious girl down, Kaneki blankly stared at her bruised, cut body as he let the recent series of events slowly settle in on his head.

He took in a deep breath, one that he really needed, and let the air flow out through his mouth. He wasn't in a safe place, and he knew it. Staying and staring at an unconscious girl wasn't the smartest thing to do considering the situation.

Standing up and lifting the sleeping girl along with him, Kaneki made his way over the rubble to what he could remember was the entrance to the facility. As he looked around, seeing his own huge destruction. Huge dents and craters in walls along with talon-trails. However, what was most horrific of all were the poor disassembled bodies scattering all over the floor. Intestines stretched side by side to see which was longest, faces frozen in the middle of their scream and the unrecognisable pulp of what was once organs and guts.

Kaneki stared with empty eyes.

 _It's worse._

 _It's horrible._

 _Why…?_

Just as Kaneki began to ask more and more unanswered questions in his mind, he finally realised the faint background noise of sparks. Turning around to face the noise, Kaneki's eyes immediately flew open in shock.

 _…_

Someone, or rather something, is missing.

* * *

 _ **Thank you so much for reading! I didn't really like this chapter or how it turned out but I hope you guys did. Again I'm really sorry for not updating in a while. :(**_


	17. Chapter 17: Escape

**Hey guys! As you can tell, I'm back from my long break, and hopefully will be back to writing regularly. I would like to thank** **Dotred** **for his constant support by review my work, thank you! It really motivates me to write when I receive comments and reviews!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Escape**

"…Fuck." Kaneki cursed under his breath at the sudden disappearance, until an unbelievably convenient ring was dully heard under a pile of rubble. Recognising the sound, he immediately rushed to the source. Digging up a small pile of rubble was no issue for the half-ghoul, so it was done within seconds. He quickly grabbed his cracked, damaged phone that somehow survived his wrath and ended up under a pile of rubble.

Although the screen was severely damaged, he could make out who his caller was, thus making him smash the accept button without a second thought. Though it did take various times for it to work with the amount of damage on it.

 **"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU IDIOT?!"**

Even though the voice was hard to hear probably due to the damage on the phone, it was clear who was calling.

…

Touka.

"Whoa whoa calm down Touka I-"

 **"HOW COULD I CALM DOWN WHEN YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOREVER?!"**

 **"Touka calm down."** Hide's voice in the background was ignored by the blue-haired ghoul.

"Serious stuff happened." Kaneki replied.

 **"…'Serious stuff'? That's not generic at all."** Touka rolled her eyes, despite the fact that phones detect rolling eyes. **"Anyway 'serious stuff' happened on Earth too."**

"Just where do you think I am?"

 **"God knows where you are."**

This time Kaneki rolled his eyes. "What's the 'serious stuff' that happened on Earth then?"

 **"Just get to the exit already! It's not like I can share the whole story on the phone!"**

"Okay okay, I'm on my way."

Kaneki let Touka hang up since anything touch-screen on the phone barely worked. He then proceeded to stare at his phone, debating whether to throw it away, or keep it as a souvenir. He decided to keep it, not as much as a souvenir but in case he received another phone call.

 _I literally just bought this as well…_

Just as he was about to do so, he saw thirty-four missed calls. Though he doubted he could check who the missed calls were from, he could still guess who is was.

… Akihiro.

Well, it makes sense for him to call that many times when Gazel went missing. What doesn't make sense is why his phone didn't ring.

…

Kaneki face palmed. _Oh, it's because he called and texted too much I muted him for the time that I was at the beach. Oops._

Deciding not to waste any more valuable time, he stuffed his phone in his pocket and went back to where the unconscious girl was sleeping. He lifted her gingerly and gave extra care as to try not to touch any painful looking cuts or bruises.

Kaneki then began to walk around the damaged facility, searching for a viable exit. Luckily for him, the stairs he used to get into the once clean facility were still usable, though a few small boulders did need to be moved.

* * *

"You're eating too much again." An 18 year-old rank 2 investigator stood beside his squad member with crossed arms. "Did you sign the form I gave you?"

"It's called stress eating." The overweight investigator replied, reaching for another rice cracker. "Oh, the bag's finished."

"What's so stressful? It's just signing a form." The boy asked as the girl scrunched up the empty bag and attempted to throw it in the bin one metre away but failed miserably.

"It's not that."

"What is it then?"

"You know what's happened in the recent events don't you?"

"A lot has happened. You're gonna have to be more specific."

"You know what I'm talking about."

"What if I do? What of it?"

"You're so cold!"

The boy rolled his eyes. "Get to the point."

"Well, I just thought we could try find him before anyone else does."

"Why?"

She paused for a moment. "… Maybe we could bring him back…"

The boy almost scoffed. "Why would you want to do that? You know everyone hated him, so what makes you think that people would accept him back?"

The girl saddened. "I just… feel kinda bad."

"Feel bad about what?"

"Well, it's really sad…"

"What's really sad?"

"Urie! The way he's been treated!"

"Look what he's done Saiko. He's a fucking monster. That's why he was treated like a monster."

"No, he's become a monster because we treated him like a monster to begin with."

This time, the boy did scoff. "Whatever."

"Mutsuki is in too!"

"Making her just as dumb as you."

The girl frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

"Me? Look at yourself. Trying to save that freak."

"He was our mentor!"

"Our mentor that we all shunned, even Akira did to an extent."

"To an extent!"

"She still shunned him."

"Well she could be the one to get to him."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, he was most comfortable with her."

"That's true, but I doubt she'll agree."

"She just needs convincing like Mutsuki did."

The boy turned around. "Yeah, whatever. Good luck with that." _What an idiot._

* * *

Finally reaching the top of the staircase, Kaneki kicked the door open. To his surprise, not a single soul was in the bar. Double checking to make sure, he didn't miss the state it was in. Broken glass was everywhere, chair legs were broken and tables were turned over. There were also blood splatters around the bar. Though judging by the smell of the blood, it seemed to be a lot mature that natural blood, bringing Kaneki to the assumption that it was simply blood wine, though he wasn't sure.

Walking to the exit of the bar, Kaneki still kept his guard up. The door was blasted off and lay twenty feet outside from the frames. Looking around he found nothing, increasing his anxiety as he walked. It reminded him of those horror movies where everything is too quiet, then something suddenly jumps out. He shouldn't have went with Hide to the cinema and watched those movies.

Not ten metres from the bar, he felt movement in his arms. Looking down, he found the girl he was carrying begin to wake up. Stopping, he waited for her to completely wake up before talking to her, as not to startle her.

She slowly opened her eyes and was met with soft, gentle light grey eyes staring back at her.

Kaneki was the first to speak. "Gazel, you're awake."

"Yes, er… where am I?"

"We're the beach."

"W-WHAT?"

Kaneki became startled at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Y-yeah we're at the beach."

"What would we be doing at the beach after sunset?"

"Do you not remember anything that's happened?"

"My memory is a bit hazy, but I do remember the important parts."

"Okay, we're at the beach because I was In the middle of getting you out of there."

"Wait, so I was at the beach…?"

"It's a long story."

"I'm listening…"

"Okay… you were in an underground facility at the beach which my friends and I just happened to go to for a week as a reward for winning a tennis match and said underground facility was underground (obviously) under a pub run by ghouls who wanted to free the world from its 'birdcage' by creating some Frankenstein monster called 'Frankenstein 2.0' (but I just think they're just crazy) but it was made up of human and ghoul and kagune parts and was brought to life just like in the book in the middle of my rampage and was freed but I don't know where it went… so yeah. That's part of the whole story."

Gazel blinked. _Only part of it?_ "Okay, now I got it."

…

"You didn't get a thing did you?"

"Nope."

Kaneki sighed. "Well right now I need to get to my friends by the exit of the beach and tell them the story. Do you think you can walk? Because I would have to explain a lot if someone sees me walking with a cut and bruised girl in my arms."

"Uh, yeah I think I can walk. But I need help with my right leg."

Kaneki went to her right and assisted her in walking by slinging her arm over his neck while she strode very carefully in an effort not to make the leg bleed any more than it already has.

As they were walking, Kaneki saw Gazel's face scrunch up in pain every time she gently placed her right foot on the ground.

Kaneki stopped. "Stop. Get on my back."

"Why?"

"Because I can tell it's painful for you and it's faster that way."

"Okay."

Gazel carefully climbed onto the half-ghoul's back and they began walking again. Despite the urge to run to the exit, Kaneki knew better or the fast, bumpy ride might hurt the girl on his back even more.

.line

"Where the fuck is he?" Touka grew very impatient waiting by the exit.

Hide sighed. "Call him agai-"

"There he is!"

Hide looked over to where Touka was pointing to indeed see his white-haired best friend. But he couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the beaten little girl the half-ghoul was carrying on his back.

As Kaneki arrived, Touka immediately asked. "Who's she? Why does she look like she got mauled by a dog?"

"It's a long story."

"We're listening."

Kaneki took a deep breath. "Remember when that perv boy took that girl away and I said 'I'll deal with it'? Well the guy lead me to this pub that was run by ghouls that were the same ghouls that attacked Gazel before from the Kagakusha except they had an underground facility as their secret base and they created some Frankenstein monster called 'Frankenstein 2.0' (which is crazy weird and makes no sense as to how it would 'free the word from its bird cage') but anyway it was made up of human and ghoul and kagune parts sewn together and was brought to life just like in the book by lightning (well more like electricity) in the middle of my rampage when I used my kakuja because I saw Gazel being hurt and it was freed but I don't know where it went. That's basically the whole story."

Hide and Touka stared blankly at Kaneki for three seconds.

"So what's the serious stuff that happened to you guys?"

Hide blinked. "Yeah… that Frankenstein monster you were talking about?"

"Mhmm?"

"It kinda rampaged through here, scared everyone off and went into the 20th ward somewhere."

Kaneki blinked. "What?! Seriously?!"

"Yep." Touka replied, recovering from her shock.

"What the hell are we going to do about it?!" Kaneki began panicking. If some Frankenstein monster were to wander through the streets of the 20th ward, the peace it's held for years may be broken.

"We don't know yet. So we decided to wait for you before we make plans." Hide said, making a thoughtful face.

"Have you tried contacting Yomo?"

"Yes, except he isn't answering his phone." Touka replied.

"That's just great…" Kaneki cursed internally.

"Before we do anything it'll be best for you to wear these." Hide said handing Kaneki a sweater and a pair of jeans from his bag. "It's kinda awkward with you walking around half-naked."

Kaneki looked down and realised he indeed was still wearing only his trunks. "K."

* * *

"Why did you want to see me Yomo?"

"It's been quite a while since Ken's been back. I thought I'd come here and tell you since you never answer your calls."

"Kaneki?! Really?!"

Yomo smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

"That's why no one was at the beach, and that's why the bar was totalled." The one-eyed ghoul, carrying a now sleeping Gazel, thought out load as they made their way back to the pub for Touka and Hide to see what Kaneki meant.

"By the way, why was you voice so distorted when I spoke to you on the phone?" Touka asked.

"Probably because my phone's almost dead."

"Even if your phone's almost dead, it shouldn't distort your voice."

"No, I meant it literally."

"Huh?" Touka asked, confused.

Kaneki pulled out his phone and showed it to her, the damage shocking both the blue-haired girl and the blond boy.

"Whoa man, I wonder how you were even able to make a call with that thing." Hide commented, looking at the damaged phone.

"I guess that extra tough case managed to soak up enough damage for it to survive enough to make a phone call." Kaneki said.

"Good thing I told you you should buy it!" Hide chimed.

"Yeah thanks for that."

"Is this it?" Touka asked, making the two best friends realise they had already arrived.

"Yeah this is it." Kaneki answered. "My guess is 'Frankenstein 2.0' made his exit through here." The half-ghoul pointed at the busted door frame without a door.

"…Yeah." The female ghoul and male human both said simultaneously as they looked at the ruined state of the ghoul bar.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please give me a review on how you found it (they're really helpful!) :)**


	18. Chapter 18: Vanish

**Hey guys! I haven't uploaded in a while because of the Christmas holidays. I hope you understand and have had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year yourself! Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Vanish**

The trio decided to head back to :RE for the time being to rest, especially since they had Gazel wounded and in need of some sort of first aid treatment. They bandaged her up in the break room of :RE and let her rest. After resting themselves for a while, (especially Kaneki since the side affects of using his kakuja were really getting to him), it was very early in the morning and Yomo still hadn't returned. They grew worried at his disappearance but decided to set it aside for the time being, as they had a bigger problem on the loose: The Frankenstein monster. The trio decided to head out in search of the monster, as they were strongly influenced by the white haired ghoul believing it was his responsibility he let it get away, even when the other two dismissed the thought.

However the thought of leaving Gazel in :RE alone didn't bode well with the two ghouls as flash backs of what happened with Hinami came to their minds. Hide agreed, but more for the reason of what would happen if she woke up alone in a place she had never seen before. So they decided to leave with Gazel sleeping soundly at the back of Hide's car.

* * *

The 20th ward was in confusion; everyone, or at least every human, was worried. The monster had rampaged through only one road and suddenly disappeared, but it didn't stop the news and panic to spread fast. Crowds of people formed near the attack, while reporters were also on the scene.

"The strange zombie looking-monster stormed through this very road here, then proceeded to destroy a local shop selling fruits and vegetables. Luckily the owner of the shop who was the only one in the building at the time suffered minor injuries when the beast threw him into a stall of tomatoes. The beast then seemed to lose interest in the man and the shop seen as he rampaged back out through the streets. It's location is currently unknown at the moment, and the CCG is under investigation of the incident. Investigator Akira Mado, does the CCG have any kind of idea what that thing was?"

"No. As you said, the investigation in still going on and the CCG hope to get some answers or hints from interviewing the victim in the attack." Akira answered, trying her best to walk away from the reporter.

The reporter followed the investigator in an attempt to get more information out to the public. "Have you identified the victim yet?"

"I haven't received word."

"Is the 20th ward even save anymore?"

Akira picked up the pace in order to avoid any more unanswerable questions from the eager reporter. Blending in with the crowd, Akira managed to get away from the interview with a sigh of relief.

 **"How is it Akira?"**

Akira forgot her ear comm was still on, but thankful it was to talk to someone familiar. "It looks like a crash site to be honest, except the concrete is messed up as well."

 **"Messed up?"**

"Cracks, claw-like marks and indented footprints."

 **"Where do the footprints lead up to?"**

"I followed them before and they led me to an alleyway."

 **"… So I'm guessing they disappeared from then."**

"Not really… I couldn't tell."

 **"How so?"**

"Because the alleyway was already demolished to begin with, Arima-san."

 **"… I see."**

* * *

 _Five minutes ago_

"Hurry up!"

"We already just escaped the police by running a red light, how much faster do you want me to go until we end up crashing?"

Kaneki didn't stop egging his best friend to push on the accelerator. Anxiety was, once again, eating him alive.

"Oh no…" Hide slowed the car down to a halt, but because the car was already speeding, it felt like an emergency stop.

"What's the deal? Why did we almost trigger the airbags?" Kaneki asked after recovering from his face smashing against the seat in front.

"That's what it felt like to you since you didn't wear a seat belt." Touka commented, completely fine with the protection of her seat belt.

"I was in the back seat."

"Doesn't mean you can't wear a seat belt."

"It does when this sleeping girl is practically using them all up." Kaneki pointed to Gazel laying on her side next to him at the back, sleeping soundly with seatbelts strapping her in place.

"There's still one left." Touka pointed at the unused seatbelt, still staring at the white-haired boy's red nose.

Kaneki shot her a glare to which she smiled and laughed. "Anyway, why have we stopped Hide?"

"Damn it." Hide cursed under his breath. "Look ahead of us."

Touka turned to look ahead while Kaneki peered from the back seat to see a load of trapped cars ahead. Most of the concrete road was destroyed further on ahead, and two flipped parked cars were on the pavement. Crowds formed around them as well as a local shop that Kaneki noticed to be severely damaged.

The three stared for more than ten seconds without a word. Each one of them was absorbing their surroundings and seeing the destruction the beast caused in awe.

"It really is a mindless thing that runs on wild instinct huh?" Hide commented, observing the damaged on the road ahead of all the stuck, honking cars.

"Seems like it." Kaneki agreed.

"… To think it was possible to actually make a Frankenstein monster, less than a day ago it was fiction." Touka said to herself, biting her thumb. "So, what now?"

"I could try reversing out of here." Hide suggested, but immediately realised he couldn't after looking back and seeing even more cars had already queued behind him.

"Yeah and bump into the cars behind us." Touka replied.

"If you ignore the fact that there are cars behind us then it would be a smart idea okay!" Hide defended.

Touka rolled her eyes. "But there are cars behind us, you can't just ignore something like that dumbass!"

"Calm down you two! We actually need to find a way to get the hell out of here." Kaneki interrupted from the back seat.

"Which is what I tried to do to begin with!" Hide reminded.

The female ghoul rolled her eyes again. "Yeah but your idea was retarded-"

"Everyone please calm down and stop honking your horns! Traffic will start moving around the damaged area very soon so please be patient!" Police officers who began calming citizens and stuck drivers interrupted the pointless argument between the blond driver and the blue-haired ghoul.

"Well I guess we could just wait until we get out of here, like the man said." Hide thought aloud, trying to get his friends opinions on the thought.

"But the thing could be anywhere, and could come back to attack at any time. That's why everyone's panicking, it's dangerous." Touka reminded.

"True, and I guess we would be vulnerable unless you two would be prepared to reveal to the CCG what and where you are." Hide continued.

"Speaking of CCG," Kaneki began, "It won't be long until they come here huh?"

"…and?" Touka raised an eyebrow to the white haired ghoul. "There are at least a hundred people here. It's not like we would stand out."

Kaneki nodded his head. "True, but I would."

"…Oh yeah, you're right, and that would be a problem." Hide thought, resting his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "We could just stuff you in the back."

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" Kaneki retorted loudly.

"Hahaha, just kidding man calm down!" Hide smiled along with a laugh from Touka.

"Whatever." Kaneki mumbled. "Well now that we've got that _stupid_ suggestion out of the way, the question still stands. What exactly are we going to do?"

"Why don't we try calling Yomo-san again?" Touka suggested.

"Another good suggestion." Hide commented before reaching for his phone.

"What do you mean 'another'?" Kaneki asked. "All the suggestions have been shitty."

"Well at least Hide and I have actually suggested something." Touka shot back at the half-ghoul.

"I'd rather make no suggestion than a crap one." Kaneki stared back.

"At least I actually _used my brain_ to think of something." Touka remarked.

The white haired ghoul sighed. "That level of thinking doesn't require any brain power."

"Just a minute ago you said to stop arguing. You'll wake up Gazel at this rate." Hide reminded as he scrolled through his contact list.

"Exactly." Touka whispered smugly.

"I'm talking about you too. Anyway, let's see if he answers the call this time." Hide pressed the call button and the three waited intently.

…

"Come on…" Hide muttered under his breath as there was no answer. "What could he possibly be doing?"

"Well at this rate, we're wasting our time like the pointless past two minutes of arguing." Kaneki said as Hide hopelessly ended the dial.

"I'm sick of this," Touka sighed, "Why don't we just ditch the car and come back to it later?"

Hide didn't like the idea of his precious car being at risk. "That's too risky!"

 _"The strange zombie looking-monster stormed through this very road here, then proceeded to destroy a local shop selling fruits and vegetables. Luckily the owner of the shop who was the only one in the building at the time suffered minor injuries when the beast threw him into a stall of tomatoes. The beast then seemed to lose interest in the man and the shop seen as he rampaged back out through the streets."_

The three looked out the car's windows to see a reporter standing in front of the damaged shop.

"Well the reporters are here-" Hide started.

 _"It's currently unknown where it is at the moment, and the CCG is under investigation of the incident. Investigator Akira Mado, does the CCG have any kind of idea what that thing was?"_

The three immediately froze, eyes wide. The name was familiar to all of them, in their own respective ways.

 _Akira Mado, the daughter of the married man I murdered._ Touka remembered.

 _Akira Mado, the woman I worked with at the CCG._ Hide remembered.

 _Akira Mado, my superior at the dreadful days I was an investigator._ Kaneki remembered.

"… And so is the CCG." Kaneki finished Hide's sentence. "If they see me I'm done for, and so are you guys as long as you're with me."

"You know, ditching the car for the time being doesn't sound too bad after all." Hide thought out loud.

Touka rolled her eyes. "Too late now."

"Even if it wasn't too late, we can't just leave Gazel here." Kaneki reminded, pointing to the peacefully sleeping girl.

"True." Touka admitted. "But another 'good' suggestion down."

"Hey! It was a good suggestion!" Hide furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's what I just said."

"Sarcastically." Hide bluntly stated.

"How do you know that? It could just be the way you heard me say it." Touka giggled at Hide rolling his eyes.

"Guys, we can't just stay here arguing forever. We need to think of something." Kaneki reminded. "Honestly, I never thought our team work would be this trash."

"You could just wear a hood or a hat or something. And cover your mouth and nose with a scarf." Hide suggested.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea." Touka nodded.

"Yeah, (finally)." Kaneki agreed. "But what about you Hide?"

"What about me?"

"Yeah, Akira knows you. If she sees you she'll most likely come say hi or something, then I'm busted too. And that would take you to prison and bust Touka on top of all that as well." Kaneki sighed. "This shouldn't be so complicated…"

"It should be fine. She won't spot me-" Hide stopped for a moment. "Wait a sec. We might just want that!"

"What?" Kaneki and Touka both simultaneously said.

"If I go distract Akira, then the two of you can go away some place scott-free!" Hide clicked his fingers for added effect of his ingenious idea.

"You know, for once you're actually useful!" Touka sarcastically commented, making Hide roll his eyes.

Kaneki smiled. "But what about Gazel? We can't just leave her."

"Don't worry." Hide assured. "I'll come back to the car when you guys get passed Akira."

Kaneki nodded. "Okay so what's the plan?"

* * *

Akira sat on a bench near the incident, drinking a milkshake she bought from the only store she found to be still open. Sighing, she put the vanilla milkshake down and stared at the bright sky. Her recent weeks haven't been very enjoyable considering the hefty amount of paper work set at her desk every day.

As she was about to pick up her milkshake and leave, a shadow blocked her sunlight. Looking up she saw a blond boy smiling brightly like the sunshine he was blocking. Just as she was about to ask if he needed something, the intense smile immediately seemed familiar.

She kept staring at the blond boy to confirm whether the milkshake she had drunk had alcohol and she was seeing things or there actually was her former subordinate standing in front of her. Blinking a couple times, she finally realised that the boy was indeed there and let her jaw drop in shock. "N-Nagachika… how?"

Hide's smile dropped. He hadn't realised how much he had missed his former superior until now, especially since his first reunion with her is simply a distraction for his friends. Hide took a seat next to her and brought back his smile. "Long time no see! It's been like forever huh?"

Akira smiled back, and her eyes glistened. Filled with happiness and shock of seeing the cheery blond she had never thought she'd see again, Akira replied, "Y-yeah. Where have you been? You've been missing ever since the owl extermination operation."

Hide looked up to the sky and answered. "I've been having a peaceful life." It was an honest answer, after all he has been happy and peaceful with his reunited friend. "Thought I'd take it slow." Hide smiled and looked back at Akira, only for her to smile and look ahead. "Why don't you take a break too?"

The investigator looked to the ground, and her smile faltered. "I can't find it in me to stop working. It's the only way I can keep myself distracted."

"Distracted? Distracted from what?"

"From everything I've lost." Akira answered.

Hide lost his smile. "But you lose more and more when you keep yourself distracted. It's really-"

"Selfish. I know."

Hide looked at the investigator as she looked back at him with a smile. "I'm a very selfish person. I do nothing to help the people around me. As I grow more and more attached to them, I struggle to change my selfish attitude towards them, and they vanish before I know it. I know it's my fault but I choose to ignore it, and tell myself lies like 'There's nothing I could have done'. Just like when it happened to you, my father, Amon, and Haise."

Hide's eyes grew wide with genuine shock. _Did she just say Haise…?_

* * *

 **As always, thank you so much for reading. It really means a lot to me to see people enjoying my work, thank you!**


	19. Chapter 19: Passage

**Chapter 19: Passage**

"… This is stupid." Kaneki was irked beneath the makeshift mask of a scarf and a hat, while the ghoul to his right was enjoying every bit of his suffering. "Why the fuck did I agree to this? What part of me thought this was a good idea?"

"You're brain." Touka redundantly answered.

"That was a rhetorical question." The half-ghoul replied, not amused by his friend's sarcastic response.

Touka giggled as they continued to walk through the crowds of worried, clueless people. But having no clues on the whereabouts of the monster themselves, they decided to follow the destructive marks the beast left behind before its disappearance.

As they moved through the crowds and followed the light trail of footprints and claw marks, they eventually stopped ahead of the entrance to a small alleyway. It was guarded by three men and woman wearing the tell-tale white drench coat, each holding a silver briefcase.

The two ghouls wordlessly moved away from the doves and the crowd into a nearby, secluded disabled parking area.

"… Doves." Touka confirmed, making the half-ghoul nod in approval. "Fuck, they always manage to get in the way."

"I had a feeling we wouldn't get through this smoothly. Is there another entrance to get in there?" Kaneki asked, turning to the ghoul.

Touka shook her head. "No. That's the only way in unfortunately."

Kaneki looked at the ghoul expectantly. "So what should we do Touka?"

Touka frowned. "You're asking me? You're the more skilled person here Kaneki. I should be asking you that question."

Kaneki stared, then shook his head. "Don't deny your skills Touka, I'm not the most skilled. I haven't been living as a ghoul for as long as you have, and I haven't come to appreciate the ways of one as much as you either. Although I am skilled, I know little to nothing about a ghoul's life, the different groups of ghouls, the communities, passages they take or whatever. I'm basically a newbie when it comes to living life as a ghoul, and ever since I decided that day that I wanted to live, even when I was abandoned by the CCG, I knew I would have to live my life as a ghoul again."

Touka stared at the half-ghoul, not expecting him to say a single bit of what he was saying.

The white-haired boy continued. "I knew I would have to hunt like a ghoul again. I knew I would have to fight like a ghoul again. But that didn't scare me as much as it did when I first became a half-ghoul, in fact, it didn't scare me at all. I was out casted by humans but accepted by ghouls, despite my original species. So living life as a ghoul and being accepted for who you are is a million times better than living as a human and despised for who you are. So I'm accepting being a ghoul as much as the ghouls accepted me. Since most of my life taught me how to live as a human, I need to learn how to live as a ghoul too. I'm saying this because I was so naïve when I left you, I thought I was doing everyone a favour by getting stronger to protect everyone."

Touka laughed. "Boy were you wrong."

Kaneki's cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. "Yeah, I was. I realise now that the strength that I was after isn't what was going to keep my friends safe. I got a reminder of that when I rampaged and killed everyone in that facility." Kaneki's face darkened. "I could've hurt Gazel too…"

Touka calmly stepped forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, making the half-ghoul look up. "Kaneki…" She started. "You care for others, you care for those close to you." The half-ghoul's soft, smoky eyes gently stared into the beautiful galaxy-blue eyes of the smiling ghoul in front of him. "That's what everyone likes about you, and that's all everyone ever needs. When you left, I was devastated and wondered what important reason would cause you to leave. When I realised it was for the reason of 'protecting everyone', I was heartbroken. I didn't need any protection."

The half-ghoul looked down, ashamed of the reminder of his past actions and the consequences they had on his friends. However, he did not expect his chin to be lifted up the by ghoul's hand. Kaneki looked at Touka smile softly, her eyes seemingly even more beautiful. "Don't be sad Ken. Like you said, you chose to continue living, so accept the past and move forward. Like I did."

The words were all the white-haired boy heard, any background noise was dull and forgotten. He smiled widely with great compassion. "Mmm. Thank you Touka."

"Right. So we'd better get past those stinking doves and get in that tunnel." Touka nudged the half-ghoul shoulder earning a grunt from the white-haired boy.

"How? Do you know another entrance? I thought you said this was the only way in."

"There is."

Kaneki tilted his head and raised his eyebrow in confusion. "You're not making any sense you know."

The blue-haired ghoul laughed. "We only need one entrance, we could just run past them."

Kaneki stared at the ghoul. "You're nuts! You know they'll notice us right!"

"Precisely."

The half-ghoul rolled his eyes. "We're going to be chased by the doves when we get seen, and they won't stop chasing until they get us."

"The 20th ward is already swarmed with doves thanks to that Frankenstein thing, what's a few more doves?

"And our faces? We don't have our masks Touka."

"I have mine." Touka brought out the familiar white bunny mask and pink wig out of her coat pocket.

"What about me? I don't have my mask with me."

"You already have a mask on." Touka pointed at the poor excuse of a mask on the boy's face.

"… You seriously expect me to use this tatty scarf and hat as a mask?"

"Haven't you already been doing that?"

…

Kaneki sighed in defeat. "Whatever. Why do I even argue with you anymore?"

Touka smiled victoriously as she put on her mask and wig. "Quick, we'd better get moving!"

"Yeah, here goes nothing." _How did she get me to do something so reckless? Whatever, at least it'll be fun._

With haste the two ran back towards the doves. To any passing human, all they would be left with is a gush of wind. Turning a corner, the two ghouls headed straight for the three white-clothed figures in the distance. Only ten metres ahead did the investigators finally notice the presence of two swiftly incoming figures.

The two leapt in the air in perfect harmony, striking down two investigators with powerful kicks.

"Who the fuck? Who are th-" The remaining investigator didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when a kick from the white-haired figure sent him crashing into a wall.

"Let's go, before they get up and follow us!" Touka reminded.

"Yeah, let's go."

As the investigators quickly recovered, they were met by the dust of the two masked figures vanishing into the dim alleyway.

"What the fuck was that?! Were those ghouls?" One asked, bringing himself up to his feet.

"Both their faces were covered, so we should assume so. Quick lets chase them!"

"If they're stupid enough to attack in broad daylight, they're probably just rookies."

"Never underestimate you opponent! You stay here and call for backup." The dove turned to his left. "And you'll come with me in chasing them down."

"Yes sir!"

"Let's go!"

* * *

They had been walking for five minutes, being silent for most of the way.

"Do you know where this leads Touka?" Kaneki asked, curious as he had never seen the passage before.

"Yes, these are a set of passages and paths that connect the 20th ward and the 14th ward together. Rarely do humans know this way, either because those who use it at night become food for hungry ghouls or they use the normal way to get between the two wards. The path is made from alleyways bordered together forming long narrow paths that eventually lead you to the other ward. There are other passages like this in other wards except only this one leads you to a completely different ward, at least to my knowledge." Touka replied.

"Oh, I had no idea. How do you remember which way to go to get to the 14th ward?" The path occasionally split into different routes, and the female ghoul effortlessly chose a path leaving the half-ghoul to follow helplessly.

"When you use them often enough, these paths becomes familiar like the back of your hand." She replied.

"You use them often?"

"Yeah. In occasions when there are a lot of doves in the ward, ghouls usually travel in secluded areas like the alleyways to reduce the chance of getting suspected or randomly examined."

"They randomly examine people now?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions. Just recently they've started doing that. One of our customers almost got caught when a nearby human got randomly examined instead of him."

"Lucky."

"Yeah, he was very lucky. But you rarely get chances like that in the ghoul world."

Kaneki nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

Touka looked around. "We should be in the 14th ward."

"Wow, how far did the thing go?"

"Better question is, how did it disappear?"

Kaneki shrugged his shoulders. "We'll probably find out when we-"

"What the fuck?!" Touka stared speechlessly at the sight before her, and soon the half-ghoul did too.

Ahead of them was a completely destroyed, demolished, and obliterated scene. The walls had deep holes and visibly deformed and melted areas. The floor wasn't so great either with cracks and blood splats almost everywhere.

"… The monster really packed a punch! What happened here?" Touka was shocked by the intensive damage the beast caused, going so far to touch the holes on the walls.

"…"

"It looks like it killed someone here. What do you think?" Touka asked, seeing the blood splats on the floor and walls.

"…"

After receiving no answer, she asked again. "Well, what do you think?"

"…"

Touka turned around to face the half-ghoul. She didn't expect to see him sitting against the wall, his head down and eyes empty. "Kaneki? What is it?"

He looked up at the blue-haired ghoul with a face of guilt. "Yes. The monster did kill someone here."

"…? It's not like it killed someone close to you or something, so what's with all the acting then?" Touka asked, completely confused by her friends actions.

"I was the monster."

"… What?"

"I was the monster Touka!" Kaneki repeated.

Touka looked at Kaneki's empty eyes that were slowing filling up with dread and regret.

 _"What happened to you?!"_

The two ghouls immediately turned back towards the sound that they soon realised to be down the alleyway the came from.

The half-ghoul sighed. "I guess the talk will have to wait." He said, walking back to where the sound came from.

"Yeah… okay." Touka replied, still shocked at the sheer destruction her friend managed to cause. She knew the damage he cause was extensive, but she never imagined this magnitude of terror.

* * *

"Did you find the two ghouls?"

"No the alleyway goes too deep, we didn't know which path they took."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No?"

"Why would two ghouls suddenly appear out of nowhere, attack three investigators and disappear into an alleyway? Come on, think about it."

"…"

The female investigator sighed. "They were following the trail that beast left, it's the only thing worth the risk of attacking investigators in broad daylight. If we follow it then we'll most likely find them." She picked up the silver briefcase she left on the floor and looked behind her. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes, Akira-san."

* * *

 _"Destroyed everything?! Killed everyone?!"_

 _"Yeah, the guy just came out of nowhere and started rampaging in the facility!"_

 _"How did you escape?"_

 _"I escaped when he was distracted with the girl we had. I don't know why… I'm sorry boss…"_

 _"Don't worry, I'll make him pay whoever he is. He'll regret ever hearing of our name!"_

…

"Well I guess they're really hungry for you Kaneki, huh?"

The two ghouls had followed the sound they heard earlier into a passage none of them knew existed. It was well hidden in the dim alley by old, unwanted furniture and all sorts of trash thrown around. After walking for about a minute, they came to see a wide open area underground. It was filled with drunken alcoholic ghouls blabbing about all the trivial topics that could come to mind.

"Yep, and they're gonna get me." Kaneki was just about to move out of the concealing shadows the two were in to walk into the hideout until Touka stopped him.

"Wait! Don't go rushing in, you should know that!" She harshly whispered. "Think about what you're doing Kaneki, are you sure you want to jump into the enemy's base without a plan?"

"The plan is simple, attack."

"That's not a plan!"

"We don't have time to form a proper one Touka! Look over there!" Kaneki pointed to the far corner of the little hideout near the only other exit, where a large being sat sleeping and bound by many chains with 'Quinque Steel' written at the pads locks. Its body was surrounded with the familiar kagune shards and ugly, lopsided stitches keeping the entire body intact.

"It's the monster!" Touka realised.

"Well spotted."

The female ghoul ignored the blatant sarcastic comment and took a couple more seconds to take in its ugly features. "It really does look like Frankenstein's monster in a way." She observed. "All it needs is some black and white hair and the bolts on its neck from your mask."

"I'm not willing to share. Anyway, we should kill that thing and get some answers from these punks before anything unpredictable takes away our chance." Kaneki reminded.

"You're right. When we jump down, I'll take the left side, you take the right." Touka quickly strategized, making sure her mask is securely on.

"Okay, but make sure to stop anyone who goes near that beast to try and do anything to it. We wouldn't want it waking up again." Kaneki instructed, as he began taking off his poor excuse of a mask.

"You're not wearing your mask? Why?"

"I wouldn't call this thing a mask. Anyway, it's too hot and isn't secure like a real mask. It's just going to get in the way when it comes of mid-fight." Kaneki replied, dumping the mask and hat behind him.

"Hide wouldn't be happy that you lost his scarf and hat." Touka laughed.

"They're old. I think I remember him wearing the scarf like three winters ago. I'll buy him new ones, since he probably can't afford any."

Touka giggled. "Okay let's do this."

"Ladies first." Kaneki nudged the ghoul forward, making her stumble. As Kaneki heard a 'What the fuck?!' from the annoyed female ghoul, he took it as his signal to make his more formal entrance after her as rolled up his sleeves to prepare for the fight ahead.

* * *

 **As always thanks for reading! While I write, I struggle to find the right words to describe a certain scene sometimes and it ends up sounding odd no matter how many times I re-write it. But I hope to improve in my later chapters in the story, and I hope you guys will bear with me too. Thank you for the amazing support anyway! C:**


	20. Chapter 20: Reunion

**Sorry for the late chapter! It's because I was in a different country. Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Reunion**

Just as Kaneki walks in after Touka's less presentable entrance his eyes slightly widened in surprise. The 'boss' of the group was the same man who frequented :RE, and the same man the bartender spoke to him about as the manager of the pub.

"Wait isn't that… Huguo?" Kaneki questioned as all eyes in the area turned to the two.

"Huh? Hu-who?" Touka questioned, never managing to get the man's name before.

"Nevermind. I was just talking about the 'boss' of this bunch over there. He was a frequent at :RE wasn't he?"

"Hmm now that I think about it-"

"Who are you two?!" Someone finally spoke up and asked the delayed question, as others tensed up.

"That's none of your concern." Kaneki replied cracking his index fingers out of habit. It's been a while since he's gotten himself into trouble, and the nostalgic feeling started giving him shivers of excitement down his spine.

"Hell yeah it is!" The anonymous ghoul shouted back, placing the bottle of blood wine in his hands down and jumping off the table he was sitting on. "Unless you wanna get your ass handed to you I suggest you speak up!"

"Wait, isn't that the Centipede?"

All eyes were drawn to the short female ghoul who asked the question. At first everyone was quiet, but soon enough quiet chatter was heard about the true identity of the white-head.

"That's him! That's Mukade!" Another ghoul shouted out, and soon others followed suit, some getting scared while others shocked at the sudden unexpected appearance of the eye-patch ghoul.

"Well that was quick." Touka commented. "I honestly didn't expect them to figure out that fast. You haven't shown your face around in a while."

"Knowing them, they probably had pictures of me."

Touka furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Huh? Why the hell would they do that?"

"They were searching for me to join their petty group. They even kidnapped Gazel and 'interrogated' her for information on my whereabouts, that's why they bothered to hurt her in the first place." At the mention of her suffering, Kaneki's hand clenched in anger and his face turned menacing like that of a predator's. _How dare these fools! I still haven't taught them their lesson yet. I'll be sure to make it slow so they can understand._

Touka, noticing the sudden change in demeanour, commented "Scary."

Kaneki snapped out of his thoughts but didn't reply before Huguo shouted "Enough!" Suddenly all chat came to a halt, and everyone's attention was drawn to him. "Use your brains! He's the one who killed all our brothers and sisters in that facility! And besides, does he look like he's here for a chat, or for spilling our brains out?!"

"That's just not the case." Kaneki sarcastically replied. "I'm simply here to ask you how my friend's coffee tasted, he's a rookie you see. He needs feedback."

"Shut he fuck up! Kill this fool, he needs to be punished for his insolence!" Huguo screamed and soon the ghouls obeyed, rushing towards the two with a newfound motive as they prepared for battle.

"You ready?" Kaneki asked while slowly walking towards the large group of ghoul approaching; some already have their kagune out.

"Don't slack." Touka replied with a teasing smile, as she rushed forward to jump kick her nearest opponent.

Kaneki smirked. "We'll see about that." He said to no one in particular, as he also rushed in.

"You take the left, I'll take the right!" Kaneki shouted to his partner as he ducked under the blade of a koukaku kagune and used his opponent's now vulnerable position to deliver a round house kick to the head, effectively knocking the ghoul out but not without a fractured skull.

"Got it!" Touka shouted back after defeating another opponent. Suddenly, a barrage of ukaku shards came flying her way as she just barely dodges the hail of attacks by back flipping away thanks to the momentum she was already in. Gracefully landing next to a broken table, Touka cursed as she realised a couple of shards were embedded in her arm. She quickly removed them to allow her arm to begin the healing process. "They're not very skilled, but there sure are a lot of them."

"Agreed." Kaneki replied just before he delivered an uppercut to a ghoul who got too close for his liking. Unexpectedly, he felt pain in his left arm soon followed by a small burning sensation. Looking for the source, he found there to be a rinaku kagune slammed in his arm, its spikes embedded in his flesh.

"Ha! Got you Eye-patch!"

What the ghoul didn't expect however was for the white-head to casually shrug his firm grip off, causing chucks of flesh hooked onto the spikes to come off along with the kagune.

"Whatever." The half-ghoul watched his arm patch up at a horrifying pace. "This level of pain is nothing compared to what I've been through in my life." He didn't need to look up to see the shock written across the ghoul's face. Kaneki smiled. "What's wrong? I thought you 'got me'?" He saw a ghoul charge up to him from the corner of his eye, interrupting what he was about to do. Jumping up high, Kaneki avoided the ghoul's charge leaving her dumbfounded by the unexpected dodge. Gravity pulled the boy down to which he extended his legs so hit the she-ghoul right in the head. Along with a quick jab to the head, she was easily knocked out. Looking up, Kaneki saw the rinkaku ghoul's mouth gape open in awe. The white-head grabbed the ghoul's arm. "This isn't the time to be standing around considering your situation." A rather loud snap was echoed in the underground zone.

"ARRRGHH!"

Kaneki smiled, and soon the smile was too wide to be called a smile as he laughed. "How does it feel dickhead?" His voice began to darken. "Gazel-chan felt more pain than this. You all will have to pay for that." Kaneki didn't want to hear the ghoul's voice anymore. He hated, _absolutely despised_ people like them with twisted morals. He couldn't help but let them know the pain he inflicted on innocent people.

The ghoul struggled against Kaneki's vice-like grip, unable to break free. The firm hold moved down towards the hands, and soon the ghoul's fingers became victims. Plenty more cracks resonated through the air, soon accompanied with ear piercing screams though they were drowned from the other screams the rabbit masked ghoul caused.

"Learn the consequences of your actions, prick." Kaneki said with more than enough venom in his voice to poison the whole group of ghouls.

Falling to the ground, the ghoul was sweating profusely before eventually succumbing to the pain and falling unconscious.

"Touka." Kaneki turned around to the she-ghoul.

"What?" Touka asked after defeating another opponent.

"They're just rookies, we should speed this up by using our kagune." Kaneki replied, dodging another attack delivered by a bikaku ghoul.

"You're right, we shouldn't dwell here."

"Shut the fuck up fight me!" The bikaku ghoul shouted before a charge.

"Never shout or scream anything before an attack. It gives the opponent a hint of you next course of action." Kaneki said, as he predicted a stab the bikaku ghoul intended to deliver with his kagune.

Kaneki kicked the ghoul away and activated his kagune. The half-ghoul's left eye became fiery red as the sclera drowned in pitch black. Four scaly tendrils erupted from his back, tearing his shirt up in the process.

Slowly walking forward, the white-head ordered his newly acquired limbs to do some tearing and shredding of the man in front of him, only they disobeyed and fell limp to the floor.

 _Wha-?_ "Aaaaghh!" Kaneki, so unexpectedly and suddenly, screamed as he clutched his head.

Touka recognised the distinct scream and violently turned her head to its origin only to find her partner struggling against some sort of pain. "Kaneki? What the-?" The she-ghoul was cut short of finishing her sentence as her attention was forcibly stolen by a group of three ghouls, now having to fend them off before aiding her friend.

Kaneki panted as his face scrunched up in pain. He felt his kagune disintegrate in a crimson mist. _What the fuck is-_

A shadow loomed over him as he looked up just in time to find the bikaku stab his kagune in his leg, further amplifying his pain.

"I don't care how resistant you are to pain, you're clearly feeling it now!" The ghoul smirked, but failed to see the barrage of razor sharp crystals flying his way as he was painfully impaled with all the projectiles.

"Kaneki!" Touka rushed to his aid, defending him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Kaneki huffed in desperate need of air. "This h-happened before when I-"

The rabbit-masked ghoul didn't hear the end of the sentence as she was forces to crystalize her two flaming wings to impale a few ghouls who thought they could sneak up on her keen senses. "You fuckers didn't let me hear what he said!"

Many more opponents surrounded them, as it was only Touka fending them off now. Just as she threw another punch followed by a side kick, she manages to just barely dodge a kick herself. _Shit, I can't fend them all off, there's just too many!_

"My subordinates should not be underestimated Rabbit!" Huguo said with a laugh, as he sat away from all the commotion.

 _All they have is numbers and nothing else coward!_ Touka's breath grew heavier and heavier the longer the fight drew. Even though she had greatly improved her stamina over the years, an ukaku will always have trouble with outstretched fights.

"Just drag out the fight, she's getting tired!"

Touka inwardly cursed as she dodges a kick, only to immediately regret it when she realised the kick was directed to her defenceless half-ghoul friend. "Kaneki look out!"

Unable to dodge the white-haired ghoul was sent into a nearby wooden table, destroying it into millions of splinters. The momentum caused the white-head to continue rolling until he hit a wall with a grunt.

Immediately, the rabbit masked ghoul rushed to his side, ignoring the burning feeling in her chest after exhausting more of her short stamina. "Kaneki, you okay?"

"My spine's broken." The half-ghoul replied curtly, finding breathing to be more important than speaking.

"What the fuck happened to you all of a sudden?!"

"When I used my kakuja, I didn't rest properly. It's taking a toll on my body now." Kaneki briefly explained, looking forward to direct the she-ghoul's attention to the approaching group of ghouls. "Heads up."

"Fucking hell, give me a break!" Touka huffed as she exploded crystals from her wings to the group, some dodging the attack to the side while others didn't make it. "I can't hold them all back for much longer, I'm getting tired!"

"I know, but I can barely fucking move… damn!" Kaneki commanded his legs to do their one and only job, but to no avail. His legs lay limply on the cold floor, completely useless. He wasn't healing either, at least not fast enough. Any healing was barely noticeable. "Touka!"

Just after slicing the chest of another ghoul Touka turned around to the one-eyed ghoul behind her. "What?"

"Look over there!" Kaneki managed to lift his arm to point to the dormant monster laying in the corner. They had both completely forgot about its existence, being too interested on the battle at hand rather than the sleeping goblin. "Stop that guy! He's getting too close!"

Looking to its direction, Touka found a young teenage ghoul sneaking towards the Frankenstein monster. "What about you? You'll be exposed!"

"Touka! If that thing wakes up then we'll have a whole lot more on our plate than we bargained for!"

The blue-haired ghoul hesitated. "B-but…"

"It's not far, just get close enough to impale him with you projectiles."

"What if I'm not fast enough?!"

"Remember when I said not to deny your skills? Besides you're an ukaku. The longer we have this chat, the riskier it is!"

"Fine!" Touka leapt in the monster's direction, slicing the head off of a ghoul who tried to get in her path. Her flaring wings crystalized as they prepared for another round of shooting. Except this time she was the one being shot at.

A bullet suddenly came flying her way, scratching the nose of her bunny mask. Shocked, Touka halted and turned around to find more visitors had entered the underground region. Better yet, they were investigators.

"Hello Rabbit."

Everyone's attention was put on the group of five doves who had just entered.

"Fuck, it's the doves!" Huguo cursed under his breath.

"Wow, there sure are a hell of a lot of ghouls here!" One investigator said, smiling wide to show off his razor sharp teeth.

Kaneki immediately recognised the bunch, and stared in horror. He turned to face Touka who he realised was also looking at him. Although he couldn't see her face, he knew worry was spread across her face. The unexpected fatigue to his body really busted their plan, and now were in a dire situation.

"Some are already knocked out or killed. There was a fight in here." The purple haired investigator muttered, putting away his earphones.

"But why?" Saiko asked.

"How should I know what they're thinking, do I look like a ghoul?"

"Uh-"

"Don't answer that."

"Fine." Saiko pouted.

"Enough talking, let's get rolling!" Shirazu shouted, rushing forward in the vast area blindly and almost tripped once he saw a particularly wounded figure being overly protected by a rabbit masked ghoul. His mouth stuttered as sweat poured down his face.

"What is it topknot?" Saiko asked. "Scared?"

Shirazu didn't reply as he stared at Kaneki dead in the eyes, grey eyes piercing back at him.

…

"S-Sassan…" He managed to mutter after several moments, receiving confused looks from his squad. "… See for yourself."

The squad walked forwards up to Shirazu and finally realised what he was talking about. Behind the ghouls (some were tensing up while others still trying to fight the Rabbit) the squad could clearly see the former CCG investigator.

Suddenly, without warning a roar interrupted the shocking moment as it was amplified and echoed through the walls for everyone to hear. Attention was now drawn to the no longer dormant monster, getting up while lose chains dropped around it. It limply took a step forward before smacking the young teenage ghoul that freed it, sending him soaring across the wide room and into the parallel wall unconscious.

"Fuck! What idiot woke it up!?" Huguo screamed, waking everyone from their awe allowing them to decide what choice to make next.

 _Shit, how did things end up like this?!_ Kaneki mentally slapped himself, since he couldn't physically do it.

 _How the fuck are the doves here, especially Mado!_ Touka screamed in her head.

 _S-Sensei I've found you! This time I won't let you go and this time we'll make some happy memories._ Tooru thought.

 _H-How is Sassan here?! What's going on?!_ Shirazu mentally asked, still shocked at the situation.

 _It looks like a three way battle now._ Urie observed. _I could get a promotion off of this._

 _I need to get to Mamman and speak to him!_ Saiko thought

Akira calmly reached for her comm, and began speaking into it. "We've come across a ghoul hideout, looks like a heavy battle will breakout."

* * *

 **I love leaving chapters off with cliff-hangers [insert evil laugh]! Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.**

 **Reviews and feedback really give me a motivation to write because it tells me people are enjoying my work. Please take just ten seconds to write your feedback, it's greatly appreciated!**


	21. NOT DISCONTINUED!

A/N: NOT DISCONTINUED!

…

…

Let me first start by expressing HOW FUCKING SORRY I AM!

Okay, so first off here's why I left the story untouched:  
I had this authors note written long ago (after I had 'disappeared') and had posted it to this story. The issue was that I was on holiday at the time (which is half the reason I've stopped writing for so long, for the other half keep reading), and when I had posted this A/N I was using this particular shitty second rate villa wi-fi. I know from experience (because this isn't the first time I've been there) that _sometimes_ that shit is dodgy (or maybe it's just for my tablet that I write my stories on, because it never seems to happen to my phone). Sometimes it would disconnect itself, which is so annoying, and sometimes it would give me bullshit. What I mean by 'bullshit' is for example when I would load my Gmail account to check if I have any mail, it would show that there aren't any new mails. However, if I were to check that on my phone or reload the page (sometimes), it would show that in fact I had a bunch of mail that I had missed out on. I don't know why/how that happens, but it always seems to happen to my tablet. A similar thing happened with FanFiction as I had posted this A/N (now I've written a different A/N) saying that I would leave the story for quite a while. (The reason is in the next paragraph). It had told me that the A/N was posted, I had even double checked, and I was satisfied thinking that the authors note was out there letting people know why the story will be stopped temporarily. The same damn thing happened and it gave me the 'bullshit' that I had double checked to try avoiding. I was shocked to come back to my story (yesterday) to find that the A/N had disappeared. Except not disappeared, it hadn't been posted at all. I think the reason this had happened is that it showed the A/N posted but was still in the middle of actually posting it, and I took the tab off thinking it finished posting. I think I've seen something like this before but I could be wrong, in fact I'm pretty sure I am wrong. SOOOOOO, long story short, I'm a stupid idiot and didn't post the damn A/N to tell you guys why I haven't been posting :( I'm so sorry!

Okay, so now why I've temporarily discontinued the story:  
As you already know if you've read the first paragraph, half the reason was because I was on holiday. Now straight to the other reason, it's because I'm starting to plan the future of the story and rewriting most chapters. I'm sorry for this, I really am because I know how it feels and I hate to do it to others, but I first started this story intending it to not be longer than 30,000 words. As you can tell, it's a lot longer than that with double that amount. That means I've rambled on without _much_ of a plan for where the story would go and how long it would be. So I'm taking responsibility and starting to plan how the story would go and end, while also patching up the chapters to keep them neat and organised.

 **Quick side note! – I'm writing a new one-shot story. Its genre is romance and it's a yaoi. Big surprise. Long story short, I lost a bet. But anyway, I've almost completed it none the less. It will be out by today, and if you read it I hope you like it because it's the first time I've written anything at all like that so sorry if it's bad (I tried my best). If it's popular, I will take requests for different parings and maybe start a mini-series? I don't know. Anyway there is nothing certain but the uncertain so back to the main purpose of this A/N:**

Sorry for the mess that I am, I'm so unorganized! I still have school and I'm trying to shove this story in my school schedule which is really hard, I hope you understand. I'll try to speed up the re-writing and all that but I can't promise it will be quick, because honestly I don't even know there the story will go. Maybe it won't have an ending and I'll just write endlessly. But I'll still need to plan 'archs' ahead of time. Again, I'm sooo sorry! But what I can promise is that this story isn't done, that's for sure!

Thank you for taking the time to read my sorry excuses, and I'll try my hardest to speed things up. Thanks again!

-TiltedNidalee


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